On Stage Romance
by Thalia Marie Grace
Summary: Clary Morgenstern and Jace Wayland have been in theatre together since they were freshman. Now, as seniors who hated each other's guts, what happens when they both get the lead roles in the school musical? Rated T.
1. 1c

**Author's Note: Hi! So, after rereading the whole **_**The Mortal Instruments **_**series, I've finally decided to test the waters and write a fanfiction. So, bear with me. I don't know how this will turn out, but I'm hoping it will be successful.**

**Also, in order for this to work, I'm changing the ages a bit. I assume you've figured that out by now. **

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own any of the characters. They all belong to Cassandra Clare and her phenomenal book series. I only own my plots.**

**Summary: Clary Morgenstern and Jace Wayland have been in theatre together since they were freshman. Now, as seniors who hated each other's guts, what happens when they both get the lead roles in the school musical?**

* * *

**Chapter 1—Clary**

I tap my foot anxiously, glaring at the clock as if I could make it go faster. I wish I could, but I am unfortunately not _that _fabulous.

There are five minutes left to last period. Five minutes until the weekend—and five minutes until I find out if I made Alicante High's production of _The Little Mermaid: The Musical._

Across from me, Isabelle Lightwood (my best friend) is just as anxious as I am. She's been one of the lead roles in the past three plays—so since she was a freshman. Since the Alicante Theatre Company decided to do a musical for Izzy and I's senior year, she was all the more nervous. I didn't blame her—so was I.

Our study hall teacher, Mr. Hodge, is slumped in one of the crappy chairs at a cafeteria table, fast asleep. Normally, I would take the chance to ditch class early to check, but if there was any chance I actually _got _the lead, I didn't want to jeopardize it by ditching a class early. Even if said class was only study hall.

To be honest, I wasn't really expecting to get the lead. I mean, the only thing I really had going for me was that Ariel's hair colour was the same as mine. Isabelle was an _amazing _actress—and her singing voice was brilliant, too. She was the most popular girl in our year. Possibly in the whole school. Maybe the whole district.

"Clary," hisses Isabelle. It's supposed to be quiet, but since nobody in this class is making a sound and we're in the _cafeteria_, I bet everyone could hear her. I look up from completing my Trig homework to see that she's holding her phone out, and my heart nearly drops.

One minute until the bell rings. I think I'm shaking. I also think my heart's beating so loud it can be heard in China.

And then the bell is shrill, echoing in the cafeteria. My legs act for me; I shoot out of my seat and make a beeline for the cafeteria doors, Isabelle hot on my heels.

The list is right outside the Aud. That's theatre talk for auditorium, in case you didn't catch on. It's printed on blue paper, and the print is so tiny I can't read it until I nearly run into the wall.

Isabelle, unfortunately, reaches it first. Damn her long legs. Me being five-two really isn't really helping anyone.

She squeals and my stomach drops. Oh, no. Here we go. Isabelle got the lead and I probably get to be an extra. Maybe a bright fish with bright red hair. That'll be nice. Or maybe I got Sebastian, because they won't need to completely paint me red.

"You did it!" she's shaking my shoulders, and at this point I'm a little dazed. "You got the lead, Clary! You're Ariel!"

I blink. "I'm _who _now?"

"You got the lead!" Izzy's shouting this gleefully as she steps away from the list so I can read it. Sure enough, _Clary Morgenstern as Ariel _is typed neatly as the first role on the paper. Isabelle's holding my arms, and I think it's because I almost just fainted.

I got the lead.

My ears are ringing.

I got the _lead._

"Wait until you tell your parents! And Simon! Oh, my _God_, Clary! I'm so, _so _proud of you!" Isabelle pulls me into a death-grip. Or is it supposed to be a hug?

Finally, she releases me. But we aren't alone by the list anymore. A boy with blonde hair and striking gold eyes is scanning the list, and my stomach drops yet again as he turns to smirk at me.

"Well, well, well," he says, and Isabelle's smile fades just a bit. In front of us is Jace Wayland-Lightwood, Isabelle's adopted brother. He sticks his hand out to me and says, "Congrats, Clarissa Morgenstern."

"Thank you," I say, very quietly. Though I don't shake his hand. Jace and I are at... an impasse, if you will. An impasse of hating each other. Does that make sense?

"Well?" Jace waits a few moments before speaking again. "Aren't you going to congratulate _me?"_

Now I'm confused. Isabelle chews on her lower lip as I step in front of her to look at the list once again.

I see it. Underneath _Clary Morgenstern as Ariel_, I see four words that are like a slap in the face.

_Jace Wayland as Eric_

As I read this, I hear Jace snicker behind me. And then I hear a noise like someone slapping someone on the arm, which I'm assuming was Isabelle.

We've all seen _The Little Mermaid _at least fifteen times. Well, I have. Ariel was my favourite Disney princess.

And I know how it ends up all too well.

Alicante Theatre Company does _not _screw around. It goes by the script and doesn't change it around just because of the age group. Which means bad news for Clary.

Because unless Jace or I get deathly ill or break a leg (literally), I'm going to have to kiss Jace Wayland in front of the whole student body plus their families.

* * *

**And that wraps up chapter one! I hope you like it; let me know whose POV you want next chapter in if you'd like to see someone specific. **

**Next chapter will be much longer! I promise. As school nears spring break, it gets down to packing time, but I'll try to start updating once a week; maybe more if I get lucky. :D**

**Review? Pretty please?**


	2. 2c

**Author's Note: Wow! Thank you for the feedback! I'm so glad you liked the first chapter. Also, I think this will be in Clary's POV for a while. I enjoy writing in her point of view and I have no idea why, lol.**

**The chapters won't be very long, but hopefully I'll update more frequently, like once a day or every other day. Is that alright with you guys? Let me know.**

**Also, maybe I didn't **_**need **_**to change the ages like I was thinking... Except for Alec.**

**ANOTHER THING: I know there's an official **_**The Little Mermaid **_**script for Broadway, but I'm just going to use the actual Disney movie, because it's just easier that way. Alright? **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Mortal Instruments, then I'd own Jace. If I owned Jace, he'd be tied up in my basement for my enjoyment. Wait, what? I don't even have a basement...**

* * *

**Chapter 2—Clary **

"Are you excited? Rehearsals start tonight!"

I glare at my brother Jonathan, who just laughs at my expression. He's two years older than me. Jon was one of the most popular theatre alumni at Alicante, and I wasn't surprised when a letter from the theatre company came asking him if he wanted to help with this year's production.

Guess what they made him?

Co-director. Which means he'll make my life a living hell. Well, more than he does now, anyway.

"Make sure you take a bunch of photos and videos, Jon!" my mother, Jocelyn, squeals from the kitchen as she washes our dinner dishes. It's _so _unlike her to squeal, ever, but she's really excited about this whole production. When she gets excited, she gets totally unlike herself.

My groan makes my father, Valentine, laugh. He sets his newspaper down and leans close to me, whispering, "It's her way of showing her pride. Just be glad she's not coming with you to take the photos herself."

"Well, come on, Clare-Bear," says Jonathan in a sing-song voice, standing up. His grin is taunting as he grabs his keys. "We don't want the co-director and lead in the musical being late on the first day of rehearsals, do we?"

"It's just a run-through of the script, Jonathan." I grumble, standing up. "It's not that important."

"It's not a run-through." he corrects me. "Me and Magnus decided we were actually going to start running through the first scene or two. It'll be a breeze."

"Magnus and I," I corrected under my breath.

Jonathan blinks at me. "Why would you and Magnus be planning how we're running the show?"

I punch him in the shoulder and he rubs it in mock-hurt.

"Don't kill each other on the way." Dad calls from the table. Mom runs to give us tight hugs, and I hear her gushing to Dad about the whole thing as we leave.

* * *

"Hi, Mr. Bane," I greet as Jon and I walk into the Aud. Thankfully, we're early. I was _not _prepared to see Jace at this very moment. His arrogant attitude was getting to me and it'd only been three days since we found out we were the leads in the musical. I mean, really. This morning he came into school with a purple seashell bra and offered it to me in front of the whole student body at my locker. I was ready to kill him.

"Hey, Clary," grins Magnus Bane. He's our theatre teacher and Jonathon's close friend. He's openly gay, which I think is amazing (plus, it's fun to tease him about Izzy's twin brother Alec, who Mr. Bane has a crush on secretly). "Are you ready for rehearsal?"

"Since when am I ready to pretend like I'm in love with Jace Wayland?" I say sarcastically, taking a seat on the stage next to him. "I'm still mad at you about that, by the way."

"It was partially Jonathan's idea." Magnus defends himself lightly, but he and I both know I'm not angry at him. "Would you rather I made Alexan—uh, Alec the lead?"

"I bet he'd be a better kisser than Jace still." I sigh, which makes Magnus laugh. "I'm not kidding. Plus, Alec has black hair and blue eyes, like Eric. You picked me just because I had Ariel's red hair, didn't you?"

Magnus laughs again. "Clary, I picked you because you were extremely good. Not because you look like Ariel. And plus, Isabelle is your understudy. Imagine if I'd picked Alec for Eric."

The thought makes me shudder. I guess I'd rather go through pain than force it on my best friend, but kissing Alec still sounds better than kissing Jace. I open my mouth to say something else, but the Aud doors open and the Lightwoods come in, looking like a team.

"Hey, Jonathan!" Izzy cheers at my brother, giving him a brief hug before running to the stage to sit next to me. Jace and Alec say hi to my brother as well before joining us near the stage as we wait for the rest of the cast.

Jace hops up on the stage and sits himself next to me, his smirk growing wider as he looks at me. "Good afternoon, Clarissa."

"It was good until you got here." I grumble under my breath.

Instead of looking hurt, his smirk widens. Jace tugs on one of my curls, and comments, "Harsh. I thought I was supposed to be your lover."

"You wouldn't even be my lover if you were the last person on Earth, Wayland," I retort, and his smirk fades. He drops my curl.

"Ouch." this time, his voice sounds hurt. I look at him, but his face is void of any emotion. I only roll my eyes and turn back to face Magnus, who is now starting to tell me ideas about my character.

This mixed behaviour from Jace Wayland is starting to annoy me. Like, a lot. But then again, since when has Jace ever not been a drama queen?

* * *

"That's a wrap!" Magnus claps gleefully at us, beaming. We've just finished running through the script, and although I despise having to act like I'm in love with Jace and kiss him, I can already tell the show is going to be spectacular. "While you lot were running through the script, however, Jon and I had a few notes about what we're going to do."

I sit up slightly from my slouched position.

"The scenes that we really want to be perfect are the last few." he looks at me and Jace and winks. "You know, the whole Ursula-wedding scene and beyond. Isabelle, your acting as our villainess is absolutely incredible. Keep up the good work, really."

Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten to mention: Isabelle, as well as being my understudy, is portraying the sea-witch Ursula. Seeing as Isabelle can be extremely terrifying when she wants to be, I think Jon and Magnus made a perfect selection there. Isabelle beams with pink cheeks as she blushes with embarrassment while the rest of the cast—I included—clap for her.

"So what we're going to do—next rehearsal—is start with Act II." Jonathon tells us. "We only have two months to get this production done, and we're going to work overtime. This month will be run-thoughs and next month will be dress rehearsals with props and scene changes. Is that clear?"

We all nod.

"Great." Magnus grins. "We'll see all of you on Monday, then. You're all dismissed."

I stand from where I'm sitting, in between Jace and Isabelle, and turn toward Simon Lewis, who's sitting behind me. He, along with Isabelle, is one of my best friends. And he's playing Flounder in the musical—which I find incredibly ironic.

"So my mom's making Thai food tomorrow night," I tell him as I shove my script into my bag. I know Simon likes my mom's Thai. "Do you want to come over? We could run lines and watch the movie a couple times?"

"Sounds great, Claire-Bear," teases Simon and I roll my eyes at him. He laughs. "I'm serious. Your mom's cooking is the bomb. Especially her Thai."

"What?" Jace speaks from beside me. I thought he'd gone with Alec and Isabelle outside already. "You're not going to invite me? We're married, after all."

"Only in the show, Jace." I say, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Simon looks amused and slightly annoyed.

"Do you really believe that, Claire-Bear?" his smirk is back. "That's not what you said in bed last night."

At this, Simon laughs, but it sounds forced. "God, Jace," I wrinkle my nose in disgust at him. "Don't even joke about that."

"Oh, come _on." _Jace waggles his eyebrows. "Don't pretend that you haven't thought about me and my _amazing _body in your bed at night."

"I'm not pretending."

"Just admit it, Morgenstern."

I've known Jace for four whole years, and not once has he actually called me Clary. It's always 'Clarissa' or 'Morgenstern'. I think he tried to call me 'Shorty' a few times, but that eventually died out when he realised that criticising my height was going to get him nowhere.

"I can't admit what isn't true, Wayland." I shoot back.

Jace opens his mouth to speak again; probably another snark comeback, but before he does, my brother interrupts.

"Clary!" Jonathan calls from the Aud doors. "Come on! I'll leave without you if I have to!"

I sigh, saying a quick goodbye to Simon as I do so. I reach my brother at the doors and turn back. I don't know why I do, but maybe I just wanted a glance at who was still there.

And Jace is staring at me, his tawny eyes bright in the Aud lights.

* * *

**Aaaand there's chapter two! Like I said before, I think I'll stay in Clary's POV for a while...I like her. Very much. **

**Okay! I'd love it if you reviewed and let me know what you thought about this chapter. Especially since I went out of my way to update early...plus, if you don't review, I'll be really sad.  
**

**Reviewers get a piece of Jace. Any piece they want. First come, first serve...**


	3. 3c

**Author's Note: THANK YOU SO MUCH! The reviews I'm getting are absolutely incredible. They keep me interested in my stories and they keep me writing. So thank you so, so much.**

**A reviewer suggested a Clace scene and that's what I'm giving to you all! It's not really that romantic, because Clary hates his guts, but I think you'll be happy with it. I've got some tricks up my sleeves, don't worry. I don't think you'll see some of these coming. Or maybe you will. I've been told I'm predictable.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Little Mermaid or the Mortal Instruments. Wish I did, though. I'd probably kill Ursula right away and take Jace for myself...**

**Also, this will be a longer chapter. I hope you like it. **

* * *

**Chapter 3—Clary**

I remember the first day I met Jace Wayland.

It was the first day of freshman year. First class, too. Everyone in class was talking loudly. Isabelle, Alec, and Jace were all in my class—in their own corner, talking. I remember Simon chatting with a freshman boy with dyed pink hair who I later came to know as Eric. Everyone in that class had someone to talk to.

Well, everyone except me.

I, in my baggy t-shirt, skinny jeans, and sneakers, definitely did not look like any of the other freshman girls. While their hair was styled, mine was frizzy and tied back into a fiery red ponytail. I could literally _see _the caked makeup on their faces and it nearly made me gag.

The only girl whose face _wasn't _caked was Isabelle. She was standing fairly close to me and I took the chance to call her name.

Isabelle stopped talking with Alec and turned to face me. She was smiling at me. "Hi."

"Hi. My name's Clary." I said with a smile. "Clary Morgenstern."

"I'm Isabelle Lightwood. But you knew that." she laughed lightly, but it was a nice laugh. Not mocking. "I like your hair."

"Really?" I blinked at her, and she nodded, smiling widely. "Thank you. I've never been told that before."

"Well, you should be told that more often." Isabelle admitted. "I hate having black hair. Especially since it's straight. It's so _boring."_

"It's better than fire-truck red and frizzy." I laughed, and so did Isabelle.

"I don't know if this will sound weird or not, but you're really pretty." I admitted once our laughter died down. "I mean, the rest of the girls I've seen have make-up literally covering their whole face and as far as I can tell, you don't have any."

"I'm not wearing any." Isabelle blushed lightly. "My mom doesn't actually let me wear make-up. It's a long story."

"Well, I think you're gorgeous." I told her solemnly.

A boy coughed from behind me. Both Isabelle and I turned, and he was smirking at us. "Lesbian." it was directed toward me, and I immediately felt my face burn with colour. A few of the boys (and girls) crowded around him snickered at me, and I felt like I wanted to cry.

"Leave her alone." a voice said. It was quiet, but it got them to stop laughing.

To my surprise, it was Jace Wayland. I didn't know his name then, of course, but all I could think about was how _gorgeous _he actually was. His eyes were a bright gold, and they were shimmering with anger at the people who'd just made fun of me.

"Oh, yeah, Wayland?" the boy taunted. "What, are you in love with her?"

Jace's ears were reddening, and he snapped: "Are you kidding? There's no way I would ever be interested in her. Why the hell would you even suggest something like that?"

That's when I realised it.

Jace wasn't defending me. He was defending Isabelle, though nobody had actually said anything to her. Isabelle must have noticed this, too, because her eyes widened and she said, _"Jace..."_

At that moment, the teacher walked into the room. He told us he would sit us in alphabetical order, and I was actually relieved. Maybe I'd sit next to Isabelle. We would be in partners of two, after all.

But when they reached the Lightwoods, Mr. Penhallow put Alec and Isabelle together. And when it came to my turn, he put me and Jace together, which surprised me.

"Sir," said Jace impatiently, "my last name's Wayland. Not Lightwood."

Mr. Penhallow pushed his glasses up and looked at the golden boy beside me. "On my attendance sheet, it says Lightwood. I'm sorry, Jace, but this will be your seat for the whole year."

Jace heaved a sigh. I reluctantly sat down next to him and put my backpack on the table, between us.

"Hi." Jace turned toward me. "My name's Jace."

"Clarissa." I replied.

"That's a pretty name." he complimented.

I rolled my eyes and didn't reply. Jace frowned and faced the front of the class, sneaking glances at me occasionally.

I knew it wasn't something to be totally pissed about, really, but the fact that I'd straight-up been called a lesbian and _nobody _defended me kind of hurt.

It was like I was completely invisible.

At lunch, Isabelle'd asked if I wanted to sit with her and her brothers, but I said no. I ended up never sitting with Jace Wayland at a lunch table. Eventually, Isabelle would sit by me, Simon, and Aline, Mr. Penhallow's daughter.

That's how my high school freshman year went.

* * *

Let me just tell you; being a senior isn't really all it's cracked up to be. You think that since you're on top of the food chain, you won't be bullied any longer—but that's a lie.

Jonathan drops me off Tuesday morning with the promise of seeing me after school for rehearsals. After he speeds off, I make my way into school. I have a feeling that today was going to be a good—

"Watch it!"

I jump. I hadn't noticed, but I'd just accidentally run into Aline Penhallow, an ex-friend of mine. We were friends until sophomore year, when she had a crush on Simon and then found out he was actually in love with me. (Which he isn't anymore. He's pining over Isabelle.) It was obvious to nearly everyone that she was a lesbian, but she hadn't necessarily come out of the closet yet.

"Sorry." I roll my eyes at her, moving to walk past her.

If only it could be that easy. Aline grabs my arm and yanks me toward her, her eyes angry. "Watch where you're going, Morgenstern."

"How about _you _get your hands off me." I snarl back at her. Goddamnit; it's only seven in the morning and I'm already riled up by someone. And it's not Jace. This won't be a good day. The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them: "Unlike you, I don't play for that team."

Someone hoots with laughter behind me as Aline's expression turns mortified, and then even more angry. "I don't know what the _hell _you're talking about." she hisses at me, but there's embarrassment in her eyes.

"Oh, really?" I fake a surprised look. "I'll just go tell Helen you're confused about her gender, then." Helen Blackthorn was another lesbian at our school, and in the hallways she and Aline always shared glances. It was pretty obvious they were into each other.

Before Aline can say anything back, I turn on my heel and storm away. I get about halfway down the hallway before someone yanks on my hair, _hard. _For a moment, I'm stunned, and whoever is behind me takes the moment to slap me across the face; I realise it's Aline who's slapping me.

I reached my arm up to hit her right back, but someone grabs my wrist. I spin, angry, and find myself glaring into a pair of golden eyes. Jace. He shakes his head at me and at this point, Sebastian Verlac, Aline's cousin, is holding her back. Jace takes the opportunity to drag me into an empty classroom, being none-too-gentle with my wrist.

"Ouch! Wayland, lighten up, will you?" I dig my heels into the floor to stall his tugging, but he only yanks on my arm harder. He finally lets go, but only to slam the door to the classroom.

He leans close to me, his eyes blazing. He's taller than me by several inches, so I have to crane my neck to look him in the eye. "What the hell was that about?" he demands.

I scoff, putting my hands on my hips. "You're really going to ask me that? What about what _you _just did, huh? By dragging me into this goddamn classroom and nearly breaking my wrist?"

"You'll live," snaps Jace, but his eyes look a little worried. Or maybe is it my imagination? "What happened with Penhallow? What did you say?"

"Why does everyone always assume I did something wrong?" I throw my hands up, but his expression makes me roll my eyes. "Fine. I wasn't watching where I was walking and I accidentally pushed her."

"And then?" he raises an eyebrow. Damn him. I couldn't even tell you how many times I've sat in the bathroom and tried to raise an eyebrow. It doesn't work. It's either both or neither.

I quickly relay the whole story to him. The lights are off in the classroom, so his face is slightly shadowed. I can't see his expression. "And then you dragged me here and...well, here we are."

After a few seconds, Jace still hasn't said anything, which I find weird. He normally has to be talking if someone else isn't.

"So, uh, yeah." I say, rocking back and forth on my heels. I'm wringing my hands. Never in my life did I think I would be anxious waiting for Jace Wayland to say something to me.

And then something weird happens.

Jace starts _laughing_.

In my four years of knowing Jace Wayland, I've only ever known him to chuckle. He never laughs longer than five seconds, nor is he ever too loud when he laughs. He's one of _those_ _guys_ who thinks he's too cool to laugh like a normal person.

But this boy in front of me clearly threw that whole idea away, because Jace is bent over, bracing himself with his hands on his knees, and he's laughing harder than I've ever heard.

"You...called...Aline..." he's wheezing, out of breath. I try to suppress a grin as he looks up at me, his tawny eyes wild and alight with laughter. "God, Clary, I can't believe you actually _did _that!"

I blink. He called me Clary. Everyone calls me Clary except for Jace. He's _never _called me Clary before. Not once in my life.

Before I know it, I'm laughing too. I don't know why, but I guess the relief of him not yelling at me took over. To be honest, it _was _pretty funny what happened in the hallway.

"And you can't get in trouble for saying those things." Jace continues gleefully, still laughing lightly. "Because you technically weren't doing anything wrong."

"And you stopped me from hitting her." I point out. "So, uh, thank you."

He blinks. I've never said thank you to Jace Wayland before. But—hey—I guess there's a first time for everything, right? This is a perfect example.

"You're welcome," says Jace softly, smiling. I smile back.

Wait, what? Am I actually having a _moment _with Jace Wayland? And am I enjoying it?

Just as I'm about to say something, he clears his throat and shoulders his backpack. "Uh, we should probably get to our first hours."

"Jace," I say, "we have the same first hour together. Bane for theatre, remember?"

He's blushing, which I nearly stutter at. Another thing Jace Wayland never does is blush. "Oh. Uh—right. I must have been thinking it was later in the day, or something. Anyway, come on. I don't think Magnus will be too delighted if his best students—not to mention the leads in the musical—are late to class."

"You're right." I agree, and together we leave the empty classroom, leaving the memories of laughing and blushing and moments between sworn enemies behind us.

* * *

**There's chapter three! I'm updating earlier today because I have to go to the dentist...I loathe the dentist more than I loathe summing demons. And that's saying something, lol.**

**So you all got your little Clace moment! Will this change their views toward each other, or will Clary go back to hating him? Also, is she dumb for hating him just for what happened freshman year? Let me know in your review, which I **_**know **_**you want to give...**

**There will be Sizzy and Malec mentions next chapter. I haven't forgotten my **_**other **_**OTPs, don't worry. They're still coming. Oh, yes...just you wait. *evil laugh***

**Alright! Please, **_**please **_**review if you liked it, and review if you didn't! I love feedback, no matter what it is!**


	4. 4c

**Author's Note: HEEEEEEY! Your reviews are all incredible. I love the amount of feedback I'm getting.**

**Well, my school cancelled today because of the snow, and therefore I have more time to update! So expect long chapters in the next couple days, because I'll be spending my whole day sitting on the couch and typing this story. **

**So this chapter is still in Clary's POV, but there will be Sizzy mentions; Malec will be later, I've decided, because Alec isn't really in this chapter, and we won't get Malec until I switch POVs.**

**Also, maybe a little bit of Clace? Hmm? I think you'll like the ending of this chapter... I literally got chills from all the feels I wrote, lol.**

**Without further ado, here is chapter four!**

* * *

**Chapter 4—Clary**

"Afternoon, Clary."

I look up from where I'm sitting on the stage, reading my lines, to see Jace coming down the aisle to sit beside me. He flashes me a grin as I reply, "Afternoon, Jace," and he proceeds to sit next to me, rummaging through his backpack.

"Oh, hell." he curses lightly, making me look over at him with a raised eyebrow. "I left my script at home, I think."

"It's fine," I say, shrugging. "You can borrow mine today. I've already memorized the stage directions for when I'm a mute."

"Aren't you an over-achiever?" he teases me.

Someone makes a gagging noise in front of us, but Jace is too engrossed in my script to notice. I look up at Simon, who's sticking his tongue out like he has to puke, before gesturing for me to come near him.

I do so. When I reach him, he whisper-hisses, "You and Jace Wayland? Teasing each other and being friendly? What the hell did you smoke this morning and can I have some?"

"Oh, lighten up, Simon," I tell him, but I'm grinning slightly. "Jace and I might as well be friends if we're going to have to end up kissing each other, aren't we?"

"Just...be careful, Clary." Simon glances warily at Jace and then back to me. "I know he's nice to everyone in theatre, but you know how much of a douche he can be. If you fall for him—"

"Who said anything about falling for him, Simon?" I interrupt him, glancing back at Jace to make sure he's not listening. He's still looking at my script. "I'm just his friend, okay? No crushes yet."

"Yet." Simon points out with a sigh.

I decide this is a perfect time to change the subject, so I ask: "Hey, how are you and Isabelle anyway? Did you ask her out yet?"

Simon chokes on whatever is in his mouth—saliva, I guess. "No! What? What gave you that idea?!"

"I told you—she has a crush on you, Simon. And I know you love her because you stare at her with those puppy eyes you'd been giving me for ten years from the age of five to fifteen." I don't say this with disgust, but Simon gives me a glare as his cheeks turn pink from blushing. "Simon, she's waiting for _you _to make the first move. And if Isabelle Lightwood is waiting for a guy to make the first move, it's because she likes him. Like, a lot."

Simon opens his mouth to say something, but the Aud doors open. Magnus and my brother walk through them, clapping their hands.

"Alright! While we've got the three of you for about ten minutes, we've got a few things to talk about." Jonathan stands next to me and puts his arm around my shoulders, and I push him off with a roll of my eyes.

"It's mainly about costumes." Magnus reassures us. "For one—Simon, are you planning on getting those contacts we talked about?"

"I don't have insurance." Simon admits sheepishly. "For my eyes, I mean. So, uh, no."

To our surprise, Magnus nods and grins in the direction of my brother. "Perfect. We were thinking of Flounder's role—how he's very, very clumsy—and what we want to experiment with is a partially-blind Simon. It'll get him more into character. Only if you're okay with it, though, Simon."

Simon sighs. "Well, I'm already a dork. What else do I have to lose?"

"Your eyesight." I suggest helpfully, and his glare makes me laugh.

"Another thing—Jace, we've got your costumes. Both of them." Magnus turns to Jace, who nods. "So we'll be fitting you in those today just to make sure they're your size."

"I can squeeze into anything." Jace winks at me.

Jonathan narrows his eyes. "Watch it, Wayland. That's my baby sister you're talking to."

"Who said I was talking to Clary?" Jace's gaze turns on Jonathan evenly, his smirk wide. I roll my eyes and say, "Magnus, what else?"

"Actually, this one was my idea." Jonathan looks at me. "Naturally, Mom has seen this movie like a hundred times because of you."

"Really?" Jace looks at me and I blush. Simon raises his eyebrows.

"And she offered to give us a wedding dress for the end scene." Jonathan continues like Jace hadn't intervened.

I feel the colour drain from my face. "Wait—"

"And she wouldn't take no for an answer. It will really help with the budget, Clary. We can add more effects." Jonathan pleads with me. "Come on. Be the best little sister and daughter _ever. _I have the dress with me—we could just try it on real quick—"

"Jonathan, I'm not wearing Mom's wedding dress and that's final." I cross my arms over my chest.

Jace starts. He stands up and hops off stage. "Mrs. Morgenstern offered her wedding dress for the musical?"

"Yeah." Jonathon sighs in my direction. "And Clary won't wear it. Which is totally bull. She used to dress up in it when she was little all the time and Simon would be her groom—"

"Nobody needs to know that, Jon!" my ears redden, as does Simon's whole face.

"Why won't you wear it?" Jace looks at me, his eyebrow raised.

I sigh. "I just...it's my _mom's_. It's really important to her and I don't want to accidentally rip it or something."

"Clary, she gave the dress to us knowing that you would probably end up ripping it." Jonathan pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Let me see it." Jace suggests.

I feel my stomach churning. "Jace, no—"

But Magnus has already stridden over to the hanger-bag that Jonathon put the dress in and unzips it.

My mom's wedding dress is absolutely beautiful. When I was younger, I told her I wanted to get married in it. She got married when she was eighteen—and since I'm so small, I figured it would fit me until I was twenty-two or something like that.

Jace, who is looking at the wedding dress, sucks in a sharp breath. Then he takes the bag from Magnus and holds it out to me. "Try it on."

"Jace—" I protest.

He winks at me. "I know it's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding, but I think this is an exception."

"We aren't getting married." I say under my breath, rolling my eyes.

"Clary, just go try it on. And then come back out here when it's on, okay?" Jonathan sighs at me.

Unfortunately, I make my way to the girl's lead dressing room and pull my jeans and shirt off. I sigh heavily as I pull the dress of its hanger and step into it, managing to pull the zipper up myself.

The door flies open and Isabelle steps in, grinning at me.

"Izzy!" I give her a hug and she hugs me back.

"I heard the whole exchange between you and Jace." she sets her make-up kit on the table, waggling her eyebrows at me.

"It meant nothing." I clear my throat as she ushers me to the chair. "I mean, it was just a bit of teasing."

"Okay." says Isabelle, but it's clear she doesn't believe me. "Shut your eyes. I'm going to do your make-up like you were actually going to get married. Your hair, too."

I want to groan, but at the same time I don't. Instead, I just let Isabelle work her magic on me.

* * *

The woman in the mirror looks like she is mature and ready to get married. She looks confident and beautiful in her wedding dress.

"Oh, my God, Clary," says Isabelle softly. "You look... absolutely gorgeous. If I was a lesbian, I would _totally _marry you."

This makes me blush. "It was your work, anyway, Izzy. I have you to thank."

"Don't bother." she waves off my comment, but she too blushes lightly. "Alright; let's get you out there. I bet all the boys will be drooling over you—even Alec, and he doesn't even drool over girls."

I laugh as she takes my hand and leads me out on stage.

The rest of the cast are already here, sitting in their circle for warm-ups. Jonathan and Magnus are leaning against the wall, talking with each other, but when Isabelle clears her throat, my brother detaches himself from the wall and stares at me.

"Clary." Jonathan comes closer towards me, and as he does so the rest of the cast turn around to face us. "Holy hell...you look..."

"Absolutely gorgeous?" Isabelle supplies.

He shakes his head. "You look like Mom. On her wedding day. The picture in the hallway...you two could be twins."

This comment he makes is ever so soft, but it makes me feel so happy about how I look. I've always envied how our mom looks. I look at the wedding photo in the hallway every day and never once did I think I could ever look like her, but I guess today is a different day.

"The only thing I couldn't do was change her out of her Converse." Isabelle crosses her arms over her chest and I blush, lifting the bottom of the dress to show my bright green sneakers. Jonathan only laughs and gives me a hug.

"Will you wear it? Please?" he asks me quietly.

I nod in reply.

"Holy crap, Clary." Simon says from behind Jonathan. Isabelle beams even wider at her work. "It's like we're eight all over again."

"Except you don't love me anymore and we're ten years older." I point out. He laughs and gives me a hug to agree.

"Magnus, I couldn't find any tape to set on the floor for positions—" Jace starts. I see him enter through stage left. I hadn't even realised he wasn't in the room.

But he stops as he looks over at me. He takes in a sharp breath like the one he took in when he saw the wedding dress. Magnus smiles.

"Clary." Jace says softly. He comes near me.

"This is totally bad luck," I joke. Wait, what? Since when did I agree with his wedding jokes?

I feel slightly dizzy as he comes even closer, his eyes raking over the dress and my hair and my make-up. Jonathan is giving him a glare from behind his back, and I smile inwardly.

"So?" Isabelle says impatiently. "We've got absolutely gorgeous, like her mother, and...well, a 'holy crap'. What's your verdict, Jace? After all, you'll be fake-marrying her in less than two months."

My palms start to sweat as we all wait for Jace, who is still staring at me, open-mouthed.

Finally, he clears his throat and shuts his mouth, blushing for the second time in a day. What is going on with him?

"Did you say you wanted to get married in that dress? When you end up actually getting married?" he looks into my eyes, green on gold.

I nod slowly.

"Well, I think you'll make an absolutely beautiful bride." Jace tells me. "Whoever you marry is an extremely lucky guy." he clears his throat again and turns around, toward Magnus. "I'll try and find some of that tape."

And before anyone can say anything, Jace is backstage.

"What the hell was that?" Jonathan grumbles, watching as Jace leaves.

"Isn't it obvious?" Isabelle frowns.

"What's obvious?" I turn toward her, biting my lip.

She smiles lightly. "Clary, Jace _likes _you. Take it from his sister—he's absolutely crazy about you."

* * *

**Chapter four wraps up. I hope you liked that, lol, because I really had a TON of fun writing it. We got Sizzy and Clace, just like I promised!**

**And UH-OH! What will Clary's reaction be to what Isabelle just told her? Will she develop feelings for Jace? Or will she avoid him? Will they stay friends or become more? Or less?**

**ALSO: I was at the dentist yesterday and I was reading City of Ashes again and my nurse that I know personally (she's friends with my aunt) looked at it and told me she was on City of Lost Souls and we literally had a discussion about the books and the movie, lol! It was so cool to have a conversation with someone about these books.**

**So please review for Clary's reaction! The more reviews, the more Clace-y it gets...**


	5. 5c

**SORRY SORRY SORRY! I had no time to update yesterday and barely any time today, but thank the _Angel _that I pretyped this whole chapter.**

**Author's Note: ****All I have to say is: I LOVE YOU ALL TONS. I love every single one of you more than Jace loves Clary.**

**I forgot my disclaimer last chapter, but I assume that you all know I don't own Mortal Instruments or Little Mermaid! I'll add mine in here, though. I really appreciate all the feedback you lot are giving me. It means a lot.**

**So, here's chapter five...still in Clary's POV, by the way.**

**Disclaimer: No soy dueño de The Mortal Instruments o The Little Mermaid. (that's **_**I do not own The Mortal Instruments or The Little Mermaid. **_**in Spanish.)**

* * *

**Chapter 5—Clary **

"Good morning, Clary." Jace looks up at my from his seat as I walk into Magnus's room for theatre on Wednesday. Already, I can feel my hands clamming up and my cheeks reddening. After what Isabelle told me, about Jace being crazy about me, I haven't stopped thinking about it.

* * *

I stared at Isabelle. I don't know how long my mouth was open, but I guess it was for a while, because then she started to smirk. Finally, I shut my mouth and mumbled, "I should go take this off," and ran off stage right, toward girl's lead.

"Clary!" I heard Isabelle call after me, and soon enough she was running behind me. She caught up with me in the dressing room, gently pulling the pins out of my hair as I wiped the make-up off my face. "Clary, what the hell? Should I not have told you that?" Isabelle bit down on her lip, and I could see the blood around her teeth. She must have been very anxious and nervous.

I took a deep breath and set the dirty make-up wipe in the trash, pulling another one out. "You weren't supposed to tell me that."

"Oh." Isabelle pulls another pin out of my hair.

"I'm supposed to hate him." I told her quietly.

"Supposed?" she blinked. "What do you mean? Did someone tell you that you have to hate Jace?"

"Do you remember the first day we met? Freshman year?" I looked at her reflection in the mirror. "About how that douche called me a lesbian and Jace defended you for no particular reason since you weren't the one being bullied?"

Isabelle blinked slowly, her hands frozen on a pin in my hair. "Clary—"

"After that, I've kind of just hated him, seeing as—" I ignored her.

"Clary!" Isabelle yanked the pin out of my hair, making me yelp. "Jace wasn't defending me!"

"What?" I froze. "But—he said he wasn't in love with you and that it was gross—"

"He was talking about you." Isabelle pulled another pin out. Damn, how many did she put in? "And that might be offensive for Jace to say that, but he'd only just met you. But yeah, Clary, Jace was defending you. Not me. If he was defending me, he would have said something about me being his sister."

"He said his last name was Wayland just so he could get out of sitting next to me." I added, frowning.

"He said his last name was Wayland because it _is _Wayland, Clary." Isabelle sighed heavily. "At least, it was. Michael Wayland was Jace's first adopted dad before Michael died. His parents were the Herondales, but his parents died when he was a baby. He thinks that Michael Wayland is his real father. Michael wasn't."

"How do you know this?" I demanded, turning to face her.

She paled. "I...er, may or may not have broken into my dad's office and read Jace's file?"

"Isabelle!" I stand up.

"This isn't the point!" Isabelle argued. "The point is, Clary, is that Jace never actually did anything wrong. You just misinterpreted the situation."

I didn't want to admit she was right, so I said, "I'm going to go tell Jace about his parents—"

"No! Clary, you can't do that." Isabelle grabbed my arms to stop me. "It would crush him. He loved Michael a lot, and it would destroy him to find out he was an orphan since birth, not to mention Michael lied to him."

"Izzy—" I started.

"You can't tell him." Isabelle repeated, looking into my eyes. "Not until this musical is over, at least. And even then—my parents should be the ones to do it."

I sighed heavily and shook my head. "Fine. I won't tell him." I grabbed my tee and jeans and quickly changed, tying my hair back into a ponytail. "Let's just go back to rehearsal so I can get my mind off of this whole thing.

"One more thing." Isabelle grabbed my arm gently, her eyes soft. "I don't know what possessed me to tell you about Jace's past, but I told you and now you know. I just hope I can trust you with that, okay? And if he does find out, you _cannot _let him know that you know. If he finds out that you knew before him, I don't know how he'd react."

* * *

"Hi, Jace," I say back, averting his gaze as I sit down closest to Magnus's desk. Magnus normally never cares where we sit, and while yesterday I sat by Jace and had decided to stay there, I was now changing my mind after rehearsal yesterday.

His frown does not go unnoticed by me.

Alec comes in next, Isabelle right behind him. Isabelle glances between Jace and I, who are on opposite ends of the classroom, and she decides to sit next to me.

"Oh, come _on_, Clary." Alec rolls his eyes at me, sounding slightly whiny. "That's my seat. You know it is. Can you please move?"

"Why, so you can spend all of class drooling over our teacher?" Isabelle says to her brother, and Alec immediately reddens. "If you sit in the back, it'll be less noticeable when you stare. Just saying."

"Shut up, Izzy," mumbles Alec, but he takes her advice anyways and sits in the back of the room, leaving his twin sister to smirk triumphantly.

But her smirk is gone as soon as Simon steps into the classroom. Instead, I see Isabelle's cheeks flush lightly and she stutters, "Hey, Simon."

"Hi." Simon smiles back at her, sitting right behind me.

Isabelle blushes again and tucks her hair behind her ear, heading over to the opposite side of the classroom to talk to Alec.

I blink. Repeatedly. Slowly. The past minute is reliving itself over and over inside my head. Did _Isabelle Lightwood _just stutter and blush over _Simon Lewis? _What the hell is going on?

I turn around to raise my eyebrows at Simon, and he too is blushing. "After rehearsal yesterday," he tells me, "I stopped Izzy before she could leave and I asked her on a date this Friday."

"This Friday?" I'm more than happy for Simon and Isabelle, but my face falls at the mention of Friday. "But—"

"I know. I was supposed to come over for another movie marathon with you and Jonathan and Chinese food." Simon interrupts me, sighing lightly. "But I did come last week, and this was the only week she could do it. I'm sorry, Clary."

"No." I shake my head, smiling lightly. "It's fine. Have fun with Isabelle, Simon. God knows how long you've been pining over her."

Simon blushes even deeper. "Oh, shut up, Clary."

"No can do. Not until I find out what to do with my Friday night." I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "I would really prefer not to be left alone with Jonathan more than I already have to."

"Why don't you ask Alec and Jace to come over?" Simon suggests. "You and Alec have always been close, and it'll give them something else to do other than beat me up for taking their sister out on a date."

I look across the room and bite my lip. "I don't know if that's necessarily a good idea."

"Look, Clary, I know I warned you about Jace and falling for him." Simon sighs heavily. "And now since you know he likes you then you might find it okay to like him back."

"Simon, you sound like my dad." I cut him off with a smile. "I don't like Jace in that way. Not now, anyway. And you're right; maybe I will invite them over. It shouldn't be that awkward if my brother's with us, right?"

Of course, by saying that, I've probably just doomed myself.

* * *

"Alec!" I call, running after Isabelle's twin as the bell rings. "Hey! Wait up!"

Thankfully, he does. Alec stops walking and turns toward me with a smile. "What's up, Clary?"

"Do you have any plans Friday night?" I bite my lip.

He raises his eyebrows (Ooh, does that mean he doesn't have the one-eyebrow-lift gene? If he doesn't, that would be great. I'd love him so much more). "Clary, I don't know if you realised this, but I'm gay."

I blush immediately as I realise what he's thinking, and I shake my head. "No! No—I mean, I know you are, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh." Alec lowers his eyebrows. "So, uh, what is it?"

"I—uh, Jonathan and I were wondering if you and Jace wanted to come over and we could run lines." Okay, yeah, so that isn't the actual reason, but Simon and I _were _planning on running lines tonight anyway. "I _was _going to invite Isabelle and Simon, but...seeing as Izzy's going on a date with him..."

"Right." Alec nods. "No, that would be cool. I'll ask Jace, but I think that's a yes from both of us anyway."

"Alright. Cool." I grin. "There will be Chinese food, by the way."

"That's our favourite," grins Alec. "Actually, it's Jace's, but I'm not picky."

"Great." I shoulder my backpack. "I'll see you and Jace on Friday after school, then? Just text me when you're on your way."

"Cool." Alec nods with a smile. "See you later, then."

"Alright. Bye," I say, and then walk away, smiling lightly. Maybe hanging out with Jon, Alec, and Jace wouldn't be so bad after all.

Oh, hell. I probably just jinxed myself again.

* * *

**There's chapter five! There was a bit of Malec and Sizzy, but no Clace...sorry about that. There WILL be Clace in chapter six, though, where things get...interesting in the Morgenstern household. *suggestive wink***

**It'll get weirder if you review...maybe we'll see a shirtless Jace. Or a pantless Jace. Or a naked Jace. You won't know unless you review.**

**ALSO: This weekend, I will have no internet, so I can't update. :-( I'm super sorry, guys, but you'll hopefully get an update soon! Sunday night at the earliest and Monday night at the latest. I promise. **


	6. 6c

**Author's Note: WOW! We're at 48 reviews! You guys literally ROCK. Here's the update! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments, The Little Mermaid, Chinese food, or anything else you recognize in this chapter. **

**Also, I will eventually change POVs...lol.**

**To the reviewer who asked for more Malec: we'll get it. Just you wait.**

* * *

**Chapter 6—Clary**

My palms are sweating as the clock nears closer to five in the afternoon, which is when I told Alec and Jace to come over. When I told Jonathan, he wasn't _too _happy that I'd invited the boy who had a crush on me over, but once I reminded my brother than Jace was not aware that I knew, he softened up. And the fact that Alec was coming made him feel a little better.

"Clary, calm down. Aren't you the one who invited them?" Jonathan, who is always calm, raises his eyebrows at me.

"I only invited them because Simon's on his date with Isabelle and I didn't want to be stuck with you all night." I reply, and he rolls his eyes. "Please don't be the overbearing big brother _and _the picky director when we run lines."

"I'll try my best, sister dear," says Jonathan with a grin. I open my mouth to reply but then the doorbell rings, and my heart drops into my stomach.

"You can get that." Jonathan comments.

I scowl as I stand up and pull the door open, almost letting out a breath of relief when I see the sight in front of me.

It's the Chinese food being delivered. I thank the delivery boy, hand him the money, and then set the huge amount of food onto the kitchen table. When you're feeding two eighteen-year-old boys, one twenty-year-old boy, and an eighteen-year-old girl who is most likely PMSing, you're going to need a lot of food. And I mean _a lot. _

"Just letting you know, Jon, you'll be the one getting the door when Jace and Alec come." I tell my brother, who only laughs as I struggle with the food. "I get the door once; you get it the other time."

"We'll see about that, Claire-Bear." Jonathan winks at me.

I punch his shoulder as I sit next to him on the couch. "They're your friends too, you know."

Yes, it's true. When I was a sophomore, Jonathan was a senior, and he was a really good actor. It nearly made me puke when I was a freshman and a sophomore to hear every single girl squeal about how cute my brother was. But since there weren't many boys in theatre, Jonathan made fast friends with Jace and Alec. He'd already known Simon for a long, long time. It was safe to say that Jonathan's closest friends in theatre were Jace and Alec when Bonding came around.

"Yeah, but you're the one who invited them." Jonathan reminds me, ruffling my hair. I scowl at him.

"I told Alec we both wanted them to come over."

At this point, the doorbell does ring. This time, Jonathan groans as I glare at him pointedly and he stands up, pulling the front door open.

"Hey! You're just in time—the Chinese food arrived, like, a minute ago." As Jonathan says this, I know that Alec and Jace have arrived. My palms start to sweat again and I rub them on my jeans in hope of drying them off a bit.

"Thanks." Alec comes in first and he grins at me as he pulls his jacket off. "Hey, Clary. How are you?"

"I'm great." I grin at him, standing up from the couch. "How was Isabelle before she left?"

"Freaking out." he laughs. "I mean, seriously. I've never seen her freak out about a date before. I thought she was sick or something."

"Simon was on the phone with Clary from the moment we got home to the moment he was leaving for his date." Jonathan remarks from the door as Jace steps inside. "I could hear him from the other side of the house."

"Simon's not very good with girls." I defend my best friend.

"That's true." Jonathan shuts the front door, grinning at me. "The last date Simon went on was with Clary."

I feel myself start to blush.

Jace raises his eyebrows at me. "You went out with Lewis?"

"Yeah, she did." Surprisingly, Alec is speaking for me. "I remember that. We all thought he was gay until the moment Clary kissed him before first hour."

"We only went out for, like, a month." I roll my eyes. "It wasn't anything serious. We just...decided it didn't really work. It was sophomore year."

"Ah." Jace grins lightly at me. "So you're single?"

"Duh." I snort, but this makes him grin wider.

Jonathan's eyes narrow at the exchange between us, and then he clears his throat. "So, who wants Chinese?"

* * *

"I think we're going to have to straighten your hair and then curl the edges." Jonathan's watching the movie, but he's speaking to me.

Of course, the minute we finished eating, Jonathan suggested we watch _The Little Mermaid_ while we read off our scripts to practice emotion. Seeing as I'm a mute for basically the whole movie, I sit while Jace and Alec both recite Eric's lines.

"That's going to take forever and it's going to damage my hair, Jon," I say, turning my annoyed gaze onto my brother.

"Then get a reverse perm and we'll just curl the edges, Clary." Jon mimics my tone.

"Don't do that." Jace, surprisingly, says something. Both Jonathan and I look at him in surprise, and he looks a bit embarrassed as he continues. "Get a reverse perm, I mean."

"And why shouldn't she?" Jonathan grumbles.

"Uh, Izzy says it's bad for your hair." he stammers, clearing his throat. "She was thinking about getting a perm."

"Who the hell even uses perms anymore?" Alec intervenes. "I mean, literally. It's 2014, you guys. Just straighten it and then curl it at the edges with the straightener. Judging by the way Clary's hair falls, it'll naturally curl in at the edges when you straighten it."

He blushes when he catches all three of us staring at him and moves to rub the back of his neck. "Magnus talks about hair a lot."

"Or maybe knowing about hair is just a perk of being gay." Jonathan muses.

I look at my brother. "Is there something you're trying to say, Jon?"

"Shut up, Clary."

* * *

"D'you think we should draw a moustache on his face?"

"Why? There's no point. He'd never be able to grow one anyway."

This earns a snort from Jace, and I suppress my grin. Jonathan fell asleep after the fourth time watching the movie, and he's such a heavy sleeper I didn't want to resist the urge to draw all over his face in Sharpie.

"I mean, I guess we could." I bite my lip, grinning as I reach for the permanent marker. "He'd probably lose his balls when he wakes up, though."

"What balls?" Alec comments from the kitchen, and it takes all I have not to laugh.

"Do you want to do the honours, Jace?" I hand the marker to the blond boy next to me, and he grins at me before starting to draw on my brother's face.

"What time is it, Alec?" I leave Jace alone to create a masterpiece on my brother's face and head into the kitchen, where Isabelle's twin brother is reheating the Chinese leftovers.

Alec glances at the clock and pales. "Uh, it's like midnight."

I whistle low under my breath. "No wonder Jon fell asleep."

"Mom and Dad are gonna flip if we come home now." Alec bites his lip.

An idea sparks my interest. "Hey—why don't you and Jace just sleep over?"

His eyes widen. "What?"

"Yeah." I shrug. "We can wake Jon up, let him know, and then you two can either sleep down here with Jon or in his room."

"Clary, you're aware that Jace likes you, right?" Alec lowers his voice, glancing worriedly over my shoulder at his brother. "And I know that Jon knows that. Are you sure this is the best idea?"

"Jace doesn't know that I know, Alec, and you and Jon are both here." My voice is just as low as Alec's. "We'll be fine. You've spent the night here before. So has Simon. My parents don't care if a boy spends the night. Besides, if my mom or dad does, we can just tell them you're here for Jon."

"Clary—" Alec begins.

I cut him off. "Just let me be nice for once, will you, Alec? I'm trying to help you out."

He sighs, finally, and pulls his phone out. "Okay. Let me just text my mom and let her know."

* * *

"No. Way."

"Please?" I plead my brother. His expression tells me otherwise.

Jon's arms are crossed over his chest and his expression is annoyed. "Clary, if you think I'm just going to let a boy who has a crush on you spend the night here with his brother—"

"If you're worried about Alec pulling a move on you, Jon, he's got a crush on our theatre teacher. He won't be interested in you any time soon." I retort.

He rolls his eyes. "That's not what I'm afraid of, Clary. Jace—"

"Doesn't have any idea that I know he likes me." I finish my brother's sentence for him, narrowing my eyes. "Hell, I don't even like him. You don't have to worry. If it makes you feel better, just have them sleep down here. Or in the basement. Or in your room with the door shut."

"Clary, sometimes you make the most ridiculous suggestions." Jonathan runs his hand over his face. "This isn't a good idea."

"Since when did you become so uptight and responsible about boys who like me, Jon?" I put my hands on my hips.

"I've always been like that." he sighs. "It just...wasn't as bad when I was taking classes at Idris University."

I sigh heavily. "Jon, please? I'll lock my bedroom door. You can set up a video camera to make sure nobody comes into my room. _You _can sleep in my room as a guard. Even _Alec _would be willing to sleep in my room as a guard. I—"

"Clary." Jonathan's rubbing his temples. "Fine. Yes. They can stay."

I cheer.

* * *

**That's chapter five! Sadly, no semi-nude Jace. Not yet. **

**Please, please review! It would mean so much to me! Next chapter, we'll show the rest of the Morgenstern household party, and then the chapter after that will start dress rehearsals for the musical! And drama will ensue...**

**REVIEW!**


	7. 7c

**Author's Note: UM. 61 REVIEWS? BY THE ANGEL I LITERALLY CAN'T YOU GUYS MAKE ME SO HAPPY UM THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY AKLDFJASDKFJ**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN MORTAL INSTRUMENTS BUT I WISH I DID**

**YAY SLEEPOVER VIEW TIME**

**ALSO THIS CHAPTER IS REALLY SHORT BUT THAT'S BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO ADD THEM AT SCHOOL SO YEAH**

* * *

**Chapter 7—Clary**

It's nearly three in the morning and I'm still wide awake.

I've tried sleeping, trust me. I even tried counting sheep, which didn't help. Do you want to know why? All of the sheep had heads, duh, but they were all Jace heads. If you've ever tried to fall asleep by counting sheep with the head of a boy who has a crush on you, it doesn't work. Believe me.

And at this moment, I'm ready to kill my stomach, because it's growling like mad.

I hadn't really eaten much of the Chinese food in front of Jace and Alec, because I didn't want to make a huge mess and embarrass myself. Therefore, I barely ate all night. And now that my stomach is growling, I really need food.

Jonathan, Jace, and Alec decided to sleep in the living room, which really sucks for yours truly. Jon would kill me if I went down there. But I'm starving and I can't really do anything about it.

I pull a sweatshirt on over my tank top and creep out into the hallway, my footsteps silent as I pass my parents' bedroom.

I make it to the top of the stairs and put my hand on the railing, praying to God that I won't be clumsy like normal and fall over. I carefully step down the stairs one by one, clutching the railing as hard as I can.

I can hear the Chinese calling to me. Is that weird? Whenever I stay up late, my brain gets all weird. I bet that's what's happening.

Finally I make it downstairs. Jonathan is on the couch, and both Jace and Alec are splayed out on the floor. They've moved the table between the couch and the television to the side.

Jon's moustache that we drew on him is smeared and there's black ink on his right hand. I stifle a laugh as I move past him. As I move past Jace and Alec, though, I notice something.

Jace is shirtless. He's on his back, drooling slightly from the corner of his mouth. But he's _shirtless_.

_Move, Clary. _I tell myself. God knows what Jace would say if he caught me staring at him while he was sleeping _shirtless_, no less.

So I do. My feet take me to the kitchen and I pull the fridge open in search for any leftover Chinese food. Thank goodness—there is some. As I pull it open, I see that it's my favourite—fried rice and orange chicken.

I dump the contents onto a plate and put it into the microwave. The boys are heavy sleepers, right? I can only hope.

"Clary?"

Damn. I guess not. I turn slightly to see Jace standing up, his eyes still half-closed with sleep. "What're you doing down here?" Aw, his voice sounds so cute when he's tired.

Wait.

What?

That was not me. I did _not _just think that. My brain was hacked.

"I'm starving." I admit. The microwave tells me I have about thirty seconds left to reheating my Chinese food. "I didn't eat a lot."

Jace gives a small, sleepy smile. "I remember."

I blush lightly and cross my arms over my chest, aware of the fact that underneath my sweatshirt and tank top I am not wearing a bra (hey, literally—if you wear a bra when you sleep, you're doing it wrong). "Yeah. Well, anyway, I'm reheating my food."

"Ah." Jace leans against the counter, rubbing the back of his neck. I try not to notice how his muscles flex.

The microwave beeps and I spin towards it, pulling open the door. Within a minute, I've pulled out the plate and shoving forkfuls of the Chinese food into my mouth. I groan.

Jace only laughs. He's studying me carefully, his bare chest rising and falling as he does so. A few strands of his blond hair have fallen into his tawny eyes. He's gorgeous.

This thought makes me lose my mouthful of Chinese food. Jace stares at me quizzically.

"You okay?" he asks.

I blanch. "Uh, I think I'm going to finish this upstairs. I'll see you in the morning, Jace."

Jace frowns. "Clary—"

But I leave him standing in the kitchen, taking my Chinese food upstairs with me.

* * *

"Clary!"

I hear Jonathan calling my name from downstairs. "Get down here if you want pancakes or we'll eat them all!"

This makes me laugh lightly as I stand up, grabbing my empty plate of Chinese food from my dresser. The events that happened last night at three in morning replay through my head and I blush slightly. Hopefully Jace will have a shirt on when I get downstairs.

Thankfully, he does. I set my empty plate in the sink as I make my way into the kitchen. "Morning, Jon." I say softly to my brother. "Morning, Jace, Alec."

"Morning." Jace says, smiling lightly at me.

Jonathan, however, is eyeing the plate I've just set in the sink. "What was that for?" he asks me.

I blush. "Oh. Uh—last night, around three in the morning, I came downstairs and reheated my leftovers."

"You came _downstairs?" _

"Uh, yeah." I grab two pancakes and sit at the table with the three boys. "Don't worry, though. All three of you were passed out so hard you wouldn't have been able to woken up. Not even from an earthquake."

As Jonathan visibly relaxes, Jace catches my eye over the table. And he smirks.

Damn. I hate gorgeous boys.

Who said that?

* * *

**SOOOOOO! I know it's short and I'm sorry, but I've got a bunch of stuff to make up for. Fortunately, though, I've got no homework due on Wednesday, so expect a long update Tuesday night! **

**PLUS WE GOT SHIRTLESS JACE SO **

**I'm just warning you all, by the way—my spring break is this Friday to next. I'm going on a cruise to the Caribbean, and I won't be able to update until Monday night at the earliest. I hate to do this to you all, but there won't be wireless internet on the boat...**

**So, please review for an update! I won't hold the story for hostage, but it would be lovely if you'd totally give me nice reviews :D**


	8. 8i

**Author's Note: HEY GUYS HELLO **

**So I just wanted to let you all know that this story has 102 follows which is the most follows I have on ANY of my stories and I just want to thank you all bc I love you very much and I'm very happy with the reviews.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything ;_;**

* * *

**Chapter 8—Isabelle (YAAAAAAAS)**

"This costume makes me look fat!" I complain, pinching at the sides of the itchy costume. From beside me, Clary snorts as she pulls on the tail of her costume. "I'm so mad that we have to do dress rehearsals early."

"Isabelle, have you ever _seen _this movie?" her tone is annoyed. "Ursula's a fat sea witch."

"Why can't I be a skinny sea witch?"

"Shut up, Izzy."

I sigh heavily as I drop my hands. "Fine. I'm just glad that Magnus and your brother aren't making me wear a wig."

"No, but they're making you spray-dye your hair grey." Clary points out, holding up the straightener and adding the last touches on her hair. "Speaking of, go ahead and start doing that. We have to be out on stage in ten minutes and if your hair isn't grey, they'll kill you."

"Always the optimist, Clary," I say in a sing-song voice, but I follow her idea and pick up the spray-dye bottle.

* * *

"The only way to get what you want," I say in my Ursula voice, grinning evilly at Clary. She tries not to laugh at me in return. "Is to become a human yourself."

Clary fake-gasps, as part of her acting. "Can you _do _that?"

"My dear, sweet child," I say softly, stepping (or, rather, pretending to swim) toward her, "That's what I do—it's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk—like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to."

The music starts up to my favourite song from the movie (Poor Unfortunate Souls, in case you've never seen it, which you would be dumb if you haven't). Within six minutes, we finish up the song roughly. The lights go off on stage and I run offstage—down to the auditorium seats to where Jonathan motions me.

"Nice job, Izzy," says Jonathan softly as the set is being switched. He gives me a high five as I settle in my seat beside him best I can.

"Thanks, Jon." I reply, and then turn to face the stage as the lights come back on.

On the side of the stage is Jace. He's holding a fake flute in his hands and pretends to play it as our real flute player in the pit does his job.

Then Jace stops and sighs heavily, looking down at Sebastian Verlac, who plays Max the dog. "That voice. I can't get it out of my head. I've looked everywhere, Max—where could she be?"

Then the spotlight on Jace fades and another one appears on the other side of the stage, where Clary, Simon, and Jordan Kyle—who is playing Sebastian—are sitting. Clary is now out of her tail and is instead behind the fake rock, since she's supposed to be naked, but she's really just in a nude-coloured strapless swimsuit. She's also admiring her legs like they're the best thing in the world.

"Well, look what the catfish dragged in!" cheers Eric, a friend of Simon's. He plays Scuttle. "Look at ya! Look at ya! There's something different." he says to Clary, whose grin widens. "Don't tell me—I got it. It's your hairdo, right? You've been using the dinglehopper, right?"

Clary shakes her head.

"No? No, huh? Well, let me see... new seashells?" Clary once again shakes her head. "No new seashells. I gotta admit," says Eric, putting his chin in the palm of his hand, "I can't put my foot on it right now but if I just stand here long enough I know that I'll—"

"_She's got legs, you idiot!" _ Jordan snaps at him, completely and perfectly in character. "She traded her voice to the sea witch and got legs." he throws his hands—or, rather, claws—into the air. "Jeez, man."

Blah, blah. This whole scene is boring. I find myself messing with one of the tentacles on my dress. Hey, do you want to hear a joke about tentacles? No? I'm going to tell you anyway.

How many tickles does it take to make a squid laugh? Ten tickles! Ha, get it? Because ten tickles sounds like tentacles? I'm so funny. I should be a comedian.

Sebastian makes a barking noise as Max and shuffles forward on his hands as knees. Jace frowns. "Max? Huh—what, Max!" he moves slowly across stage, pretending to chase Sebastian. "Max! Quiet, Max! What's gotten into you, fella?" he looks up and sees Clary, and his frown fades. "Oh...oh, I see. Are you okay, miss? I'm sorry if this knucklehead scared you. He's harmless, really." Jace rubs the back of his neck—Clary toys with her hair, biting her lip and smiling at Jace.

God, they're adorable together. Ever since Jace told me he liked her, I'd been shipping them hardcore.

"You...you seem very familiar to me." Jace frowns at Clary, whose eyes light up. "Have we met?"

She nods energetically.

"We have met! I knew it!" Jace exclaims, grinning. He takes her hands. "You're the one—the one I've been looking for!"

Uh, hell yes! But then I sigh. If only this was real. There is some _serious _sexual tension between those two. Worse than when Simon was in love with Clary and she didn't know it. "What's your name?" Jace asks Clary.

Seriously, it takes all I have not to just jump up and smash their faces together and make them kiss. Sheesh.

Clary opens her mouth to say 'Ariel', but she shakes her head and points to her throat.

"What's wrong? You can't speak?" when Clary shakes her head again, Jace sighs, letting go of her other hand and stepping back. "Oh. Then you couldn't be who I thought."

Both Clary and Sebastian look frustrated. Clary desperately waves her hands around and Jace turns to her, confused. "What is it?" he asks. "You're hurt?" Clary shakes her head again. "No, no...you need help?"

Yes, Clary, you do need help. You need to figure out that you're in love with Jace. I huff.

Clary leans forward and falls into him. Jace catches her gracefully, and I can tell that Clary is blushing. "Whoa, whoa—careful. Careful, easy—gee, you must have really been through something."

Duh! She's in denial!

Jonathan turns toward me with a raised eyebrow.

Oh, shit, did I say that out loud?

Thankfully, Jace and Clary don't notice. Jace keeps talking. "Don't worry, I'll help you. Come on...come on, you'll be okay." he carries her off stage and the lights fade.

"What was that about someone in denial?" Jonathan asks me immediately as they switch scenes.

I'm blushing. "Uh, nothing you'd like to hear."

"Is it about Clary and Jace?"

"Yeah."

Jonathan sighs. "You're right. I don't want to hear it."

"How was the sleepover with my brothers, by the way?" I ask quietly.

He groans. "I think Clary and Jace did something."

When I gasp, he jumps loudly. "Sorry! But what do you mean by something?"

"Clary came downstairs at like three in the morning and when she looked at Jace she was blushing really hard."

"I hope something's going on." I admit, grinning.

"I don't." Jonathan sighs.

"Why not?" my grin drops.

"Because, Isabelle, she's my baby sister and your brother's kind of a player." Well, I can't argue with that. "And whether he really likes her or not, I can't be the judge. And I just don't want her to get hurt."

"I don't think Jace would hurt Clary." I say seriously, but Jonathan still doesn't look convinced.

Then again, am I even really convinced?

Ooh, I totally just got ominous right there. That was so cool.

* * *

**I actually really like writing with Isabelle, yay. More Sizzy next chapter :D and see, it was longer than last chapter hahahaha ;_;**

**So please review! I'll update again tomorrow night if I have time, and don't forget, I won't be able to update after Thursday night until the 31****st**** of March! Sorry loves! X**


	9. 9a

**Author's Note: HEYYYYYY! Thank you all so much for the reviews, follows, and favourites. They all mean a lot. Like, a lot.**

**This chapter is actually in ALEC'S POV! We get some Malec in this chapter! How exciting! And, er, illegal...you'll see why.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my plots that might make all of you hate me. Or not. Heh.**

* * *

**Chapter 9—Alec **

My hands are shaking as I knock on the door of Magnus's apartment. I've been to his place before, of course, but this time it's different. This time, it's the last stop I'll ever make here before my eighteenth birthday. And then Magnus and I won't _have _to be in secret anymore.

Magnus pulls the door open. His eyes are shining when he looks at me—and though I'd never admit it out loud, I love that. "Hey, Alexander," he says softly. "Won't you come in? Chairman Meow and I have nearly eaten all the food."

This earns him a laugh from me. Chairman Meow is his cat. Magnus told me once that Chairman Meow got his name by a very, very drunk Magnus. But Magnus never really cared—he liked the name.

"Well, I don't really have an appetite, so I don't think it matters." I say, stepping inside. Magnus's smile turns into a frown as he shuts the door.

"Why? What's wrong?" he sits next to me on his couch.

I sigh. "Nothing bad. It's just...my birthday is in two days."

"I know." Magnus's smile is back. He takes my hand. "And then it won't matter about us sneaking around."

"It will matter, though; if we go public in two months when school is over and someone finds out we had sex when I was a minor." I point out. Magnus doesn't let go of my hand, but his grip on it loosens.

"We'll be fine, Alexander," says Magnus softly. "Haven't you ever seen the show Pretty Little Liars? One of the main characters had a serious relationship with her teacher. Everybody knew about it, but they were never convicted."

"The principal never knew about it. Only most of the students. But none of them had the balls to tell anyone." I roll my eyes, before realising what I've just said.

"You watch that?" Magnus looks surprised.

"Izzy does." I shrug. "And yeah, I'll admit to watching it every once in a while. It's not that bad of a show. But in the finale, didn't that Ezra guy—"

"DON'T SPOIL IT!" Magnus shouts, making me jump and Chairman Meow dart into the corner in fear.

"Jeez!" I raise both of my hands up.

"Sorry. I haven't seen the finale." he admits. "I've been busy grading papers."

"That sounds weird to hear coming out of my boyfriend's mouth." I laugh lightly, and Magnus kisses the corner of my mouth before leaning forward and reaching for the takeout cartons.

"Get used to it, love," says Magnus with a smile. "Now, come on—this food isn't going to eat itself."

"You're right." I agree, humming lightly as I press my mouth against his. "But the food isn't what I'm hungry for right now."

* * *

"This whole you-and-Magnus thing isn't really a good idea, Alec." Isabelle says worriedly, eyeing me over the cafeteria table. "What happens if someone does find out?"

"Izzy, tomorrow is our birthday and I really don't want our mood being darkened by you and your pessimistic ways." I comment, stabbing at the salad in front of me. I hear Clary snort into her drink from beside my twin.

"I'm just worried, that's all." Isabelle sighs heavily.

I bite my lip. "I'm worried too, Izzy."

"I think you and Magnus know what you're doing." Clary sets her drink down, twisting a strand of red hair around her finger. "And I think you two are mature enough."

"Thank you, Clary," I say, smiling brightly. Isabelle sighs again. "It means a lot."

Clary smiles at me. "Of course, Alec."

"So, speaking of relationships..." I turn my gaze onto my twin sister, raising my eyebrows at her. "How are you and Simon, sis?"

"We're good." Isabelle mumbles, but she's blushing.

"Ooh," says Clary, winking at my sister. "Details?"

"Our first date was really fun. And so was the second. And the third. And now, er, Saturday night, we're going to the roller rink downtown." Isabelle's blush deepens. She looks at the table. "I really, really like him."

"Aw." Clary beams at both of us widely. "Both of my friends have boyfriends."

"I've totally lost my gratitude for you." I tell her, and she sticks her tongue out in reply.

"Speaking of boyfriends, how's Jace?" Isabelle's keen to change the subject.

"Jace isn't my boyfriend." Clary's face is red as she snaps.

I raise my eyebrows yet again. "Ooh, someone's touchy."

"Jace is _not _my boyfriend, okay?" Clary now sounds calm. She sighs. "We aren't even friends. I mean, we are friends, but, like, barely friends."

"You know he really likes you, right?" Isabelle looks at Clary.

"I know." Clary bites her lip. "According to you, he's crazy about me."

"Crazy about you is an understatement." I say under my breath.

Isabelle nods at me. "And to be honest, Clary, I'd really like it if you and Jace's first kiss was _not _on stage."

"I actually agree with that." I admit.

"I hate both of you." Clary grumbles.

"We love you too." Isabelle nudges her best friend.

Clary groans as she finishes off her lunch. "I literally hate you both. Don't even talk to me anymore."

"Do you really want us to leave?" Isabelle pouts.

"Nah. Clary loves us too much." I grin at Clary, and she once again sticks her tongue out at me. "Come on, though. Lunch is over. If we get to free period before Stark takes attendance, we can sneak out immediately afterword."

"Sounds like a plan." Clary says decidedly, and together the three of us leave the cafeteria.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Magnus by the teachers. He winks at me and I can feel myself blushing, and he grins again.

"Careful, Alec," says Izzy softly. "If someone catches you two, you'll be in trouble."

As we continue to walk out of the cafeteria, I can't help but shake the chilling feeling that Magnus and I will indeed get in trouble soon, and that it's going to be disastrous.

* * *

**Oh, Alec, Alec, Alec. You know I love you too much to do that? Or maybe I love you **_**so **_**much that I **_**will **_**do that. Hmm...**

**Sorry for the later update, guys! I was out for about three or four hours tonight and didn't end up getting the chapter done before I left. But here it is now :D Also, sorry for the short update. Time is running low today, lol.**

**Last update until Monday, 31 March, will be tomorrow! It'll be good, I hope. It'll either be in Clary or Jace's POV. Whose would you rather it be in? Add that in your review! **


	10. 10j

**Author's Note: WOWWWWWWW WE ARE SO CLOSE TO 100 REVIEWS I'M GOING TO CRY WOW**

**OKAY WELL THIS CHAPTER WILL BE IN JACE'S POV SO HAVE FUN AND ENJOY THE CHAPTER XXXXX**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMI or TLM, but I **_**do **_**own Jace's witty comments. I think. Or maybe I don't own those...**

* * *

**Chapter 10—Jace**

Would it be considered creepy to be watching your crush while she was studying her lines? Because that's all I've been doing for the past hour.

Okay, okay, don't judge me. Clary's cute when she concentrates. It's not _my _fault that I have a thing for redheads. Isabelle says it's because I was dropped on my head as a baby. Of course I wasn't dropped, though. Otherwise I wouldn't be perfect. And I'm pretty sure I'm perfect. Well, Clary doesn't think so.

Damn. Does everything I think about go back to that loud redhead? Not that I mind, but...there's no way she'll actually ever fall for me. So I'd like to get over her. Trust me, I've tried. God, I even _made out _with Aline Penhallow junior year, but that didn't work. Even Alec says I'm in love with her.

I don't know when it clicked. I've had a crush on Clarissa Morgenstern since freshman year, when I first met her, but I think I _really _fell in love with her this year, when I saw her in that wedding dress. Right then and there, I wanted to marry her so nobody could take her from me.

But, as she's said before, she wouldn't be with me even if I was the last person on earth. Although, if I was the last person on earth, she _couldn't _be with me, because she'd be dead, right?

"Jace," says Magnus; I look up at him. He jerks his head toward the stage. "Get up there. It's time for the end scene."

Oh, great. The scene where I'm supposed to kiss Clary. The worst part is—Magnus and Jonathan are insisting we kiss. Like, today, now. For 'practice'.

The only thing is? I don't want my first kiss with the girl I'm in love with to be a staged kiss. I want it to be real. Not something she's being forced to do.

But, of course, I can't always get what I want. I sigh heavily and stand up, leaving my script on my chair. I don't need it for this scene.

I sit down on one of the fake rocks. I'm supposed to be unconscious on the ground, but Magnus said I could hold off on lying there until the actual show, because I'm so tired I would probably fall asleep.

"And...action!" calls Magnus.

This is my cue. I act like I'm waking up and then stand, looking over at Clary. Her smile is bright—but while my expression is genuine, like it is every time I look at her, hers is fake. I can tell.

We both grin, and then I rush toward her, catching her by the waist and spinning her around. She squeals. This is how we should be.

But as I set her down and lean toward her, Clary's eyes widen. She leans away from me.

What?

"Clary?" Jonathan's apparently thinking the same thing because he frowns. "You're supposed to kiss him."

"I can't do this." Clary's voice is small. There's an emotion in her eyes that I can't place. "Jace, I'm sorry, but I can't—"

"It's okay, Clary." I clear my throat. Yeah, it's fine. Let me just call someone in China and make sure they can hear my heart breaking into a million pieces, because that's what's going on right now. "We don't have to."

But at this point, the small redheaded girl in front of me has already spun around and rushed off stage, leaving me standing, shocked, and hurt.

"Oh, damn." Isabelle curses from behind me, and she rushes past me to follow Clary.

"Well, uh, I guess that means a five minute break." Magnus looks at me for an explanation as I jump off stage, but I only shrug.

"I have no idea what that was about. Honest." I say. Alec comes up beside me.

"That's so weird." Alec says, looking between Magnus and me. "I could have sworn that Clary—"

"That Clary what?" I perk up slightly.

He sighs and then shakes his head. "Nothing. I was wrong, I guess."

This deflates me. "I think we should end rehearsal early tonight." Magnus considers this, biting his lip. "Or maybe run the show with Alec as Eric."

Oh, yeah. That'll help. I'll get to see my brother kiss my crush. That's not disgusting at all. "If we do that, then there's no point for me staying here. I should go change." I nod at Alec and move past them, making my way to the boys dressing room.

I change quickly and swiftly, just wanting to get the hell out of there. My head is pounding.

I step out of boys lead, only to hear a light sniffling and muffled talking. It's coming from girls lead. I take a few steps forward, careful not to make my presence known.

"Izzy, every time I look at him, I just—I think—I can't kiss him." It's Clary's voice. "It's just..."

"Clary, no offense, but you have to be professional about this." Isabelle says gently. "It's not like he's going to make fun of you for your kissing. He's in _love _with you, for God's sake."

This nearly makes me fall over. Clary knows? Is that why she won't kiss me?

"I know that, Iz." Clary exhales.

"Do you like him? In that way?" Isabelle's voice is even softer. I lean closer.

Clary's quiet for a minute. "I don't know." she says finally. "I'm getting mixed signals from myself."

"What does that mean?"

"It means my brain is telling me that Jace is _not _the right person for me." Oh, lovely. I'm getting rejected without her knowing. "But my heart...or, at least, I think it's my heart...it's telling me that he is."

Never mind. I smile lightly.

"Well, we should probably get back out there. We can figure out about your feelings for Jace later." Isabelle says, and then there is a scraping noise.

Crap. I quickly back up and head toward stage, coming down the steps in my regular clothes. "You're right, Jace." says Magnus to me as soon as I catch up with my brother and theatre teacher. "Alec and I were just talking about it, and we'll just end rehearsal early."

Is it just me, or is Alec _blushing?_

"We're what?" Clary's voice comes from behind me. I turn around slightly to see her with Isabelle. My heart hurts and swells when I see her.

"We're wrapping up rehearsal for today." Magnus repeats, putting his hands on his hips. He's wearing those rainbow pants again today, I notice. "We'll come back tomorrow and start where we left off. Minus the kissing," he adds quickly, taking in my and Clary's expressions. "Don't worry."

"Okay." Clary exhales. "I should probably go change."

"Me too," says Isabelle, and they leave again.

I sigh. "Thanks, Magnus, really. I'll see you tomorrow in class okay?"

Magnus nods. "See you later, Jace."

"You coming, Alec?" I turn to my brother.

"Uh, no thanks." Alec bites his lip. "I'll stay a bit. Magnus and Jonathan want to talk to me about understudy stuff."

"Oh." I frown. He's blushing again. I can totally see it. "Well, see you at home later, then."

Alec nods and smiles lightly. Magnus's eyes narrow. I frown deeper and leave the auditorium, too many thoughts in my head.

* * *

**So we even got a bit of Malec in there, lol. Was Jace's POV okay? Let me know in your review! X**

**Unfortunately, this is the last update until Monday, 31 March. And I'm sorry. But where I'm going on my spring break does not have wifi. I will, however, have a lot of fun and hopefully get a lot of good ideas. :D And I can go write my new 1940s-Clace story!**

**So, please please review? X **


	11. 11c

**Author's Note: **

**guess who's back, back again**

**kaitlyn's back, tell a friend (and clary's pov bc yall know you missed her)**

**i would have updated later today like after school but i'm sick because a friend got me sick on the boat so i didn't go to classes oh whale**

**my cruise was legitimately the best thing ever i was so excited that i actually got to go but heY WE HAVE 117 REVIEWS IN 10 CHAPTERS CAN I CRY PLEASE**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMI or TLM hahahahaha cries bye**

* * *

**Chapter 11—Clary **

"Hey, Clary."

I look up to see Jace as he sits down next to me. His smile is lazy and lopsided, and it makes my stomach flip. I smile back at him as the butterflies fade. "Hi, Jace," I say. "How are you?"

"I'm good." he nods slowly, his eyes not leaving my face. "What about you?"

"I'm okay." I bite my lip as I return to my script. "Almost done memorizing my lines."

"That's great." says Jace, pulling out his script as well. His knee nudges mine as he leans over to his backpack and the butterflies are back. I bite my lip. "Me too."

"Can you believe we're only four weeks away from opening weekend?" my smile widens as I think about it. Jace is still looking at me. "It seems like just yesterday I was looking at the cast list and finding out I was playing Ariel."

"And hating me." his tone is dry, and when I look over at him there's a look in his eyes that I can't place. His smile has morphed into a bitter smirk.

"And hating you." I agree softly, but I'm confused. One minute, Jace is fun to be around and light and grinning constantly, and then he's sarcastic and rude and arrogant.

"Clary, I want you to be honest with me." Jace sets his script down and takes mine in his hands, putting it on top of his script. "The other day, when we were rehearsing, you ran off stage."

"Oh." I say quietly. I remember exactly what he's talking about—when I was supposed to kiss him during rehearsal, but I couldn't. That day, I'd felt so many butterflies I thought I was going to die. "Yeah. What about it, Jace?"

"Isabelle ran after you." his voice is slow. "Magnus said I was done for the day so I went to change, but I...I heard you and Izzy."

I don't say anything. My heart is pounding.

"You said..." Jace swallows. "You said you were getting mixed signals from yourself. Right?"

"Right." my voice is barely above a whisper.

"And you also said...you also said your head was telling you I was bad for you. But your heart was saying the opposite."

Why is he doing this? I nod, keeping my eyes trained on the floor.

I feel his hand take mine, but I don't look up. His hand is warm and rough and large, nearly completely surrounding my small, soft, cold hand.

"Clary, I don't want to continue in this show if you can't kiss me." he lifts my chin with his other hand, locking his eyes with mine. "So I...I want you to go out on a date with me."

_Oh. _My stomach flips. "I can kiss you without dating you, Jace."

"See, that's the thing." his hand drops from my chin, but I don't look away. He takes my other hand. "I can't."

"Jace." I say.

"It drives me crazy to be in the same room and not be able to tell you that I'm in love with you, Clary."

I blanch. I knew—for a while now—that he was crazy about me, but...in love? "Wait." I say. I let go of his hands and slip off the desk in the empty classroom, standing to face him. "You're _in love _with me? I knew you had a crush on me, but—"

"Wait." Jace holds his hands up. "You knew?"

"Y-yeah." I say quietly. "Izzy told me right after you ran off stage when I was wearing the wedding dress."

"She told you?" his voice raises. "What else do you know?"

_Only about your real family. About how Wayland is not really your last name to have because you're a Herondale. _"Nothing." I lie.

He runs a hand through his blond hair, his eyes darting around the room. I hear him swear, softly, under his breath, and while he is silent I think.

Would I really want to date Jace? Is that something I want? Every single time I'm around him, I feel nervous as hell and I get butterflies, but...I don't know if that means I want to date him.

Isabelle gave me advice, but...listening to my heart isn't the best idea, I don't think. But for God's sake, he just asked me out. And I don't think he'll ever ask me again. And I don't think I want to risk that.

"Yes." I say.

"Yes?" Jace looks up. "Yes, you know something?"

"No." I blink. "Yes, I want to go on a date with you."

Jace freezes.

"You asked me, didn't you?" I raise my eyebrows at him. "If you want to take that offer back—"

"No!" he says immediately. "No, I—I'm not taking it back. I just...didn't expect you to say yes."

"Well, I'm saying it, aren't I?" I put my hands on my hips. Sarcastic Clary's back.

"Uh, yeah." Jace clears his throat. I can tell he's trying hard not to smile and he's trying to play it cool. "So, um, maybe Saturday night? Six? We could, uh, go bowling or something."

"Sure." I say. "It sounds like a plan."

This time Jace grins widely. "Cool. Okay. See you Saturday." he turns to leave.

I try to fight a smile. "Jace?" I say.

"Yeah?" Jace turns back toward me.

My smile widens. "It's only Monday. I'll see you tomorrow, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and Fri—"

"I get it, Clary." Jace interrupts me, rolling his eyes as he leaves the room.

And as he goes, I hear him mutter, "Redhead smartass."

* * *

**HELLO EVERYONE SORRY IT'S SO SHORT BUT *chants* CLACE CLACE CLACE CLACE **

**REVIEW PLEASE ILY ALL **


	12. 12cas

**Author's Note: Sorry for the later update...this update has bunches of drama, which is why it actually is in Clary, Magnus, **_**and **_**Simon's POVs. There is a lot of stuff that is about to go down, so just hold on...you should have seen at least **_**one **_**of these coming.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, unfortunately.**

* * *

**Chapter 12—Clary, Alec, Simon**

**A**

I knew at some point that this was going to happen, but I didn't think it would happen now.

I told Magnus it was a bad idea for us to go downtown for a date, but he was too excited about my birthday to listen. And I, of course, put it behind me because I was with my boyfriend that I was head over heels in love with (though he didn't know it), and it was my eighteenth birthday.

But I had still been his student when this whole thing started. And I still _am _his student—legal adult or not.

And now this freaking picture of us was going straight to the principal, and God only knows what would become of Magnus, his job, me, and us.

**S**

"She's _what?" _

Isabelle nods excitedly, her whole face lit up. Only minutes before our date, she showed up and informed me quickly in one breath that Jace and Clary were going on a date tonight. The first thing I thought was: _are you kidding me? _

And then I thought...why didn't Clary tell me? She was supposed to be my best friend. I guess not.

"Ugh, I'm so happy for them." Isabelle gushes, smiling widely. "Jace has loved her for the _longest time—"_

"Wait, wait, wait." I hold my hands up. "Love? You didn't say anything about love."

"Simon, calm down." Isabelle laughs lightly. "But, yeah, he loves her. Why? It's not a big deal."

"Of course it's a big deal!" I snap at her, and her smile fades. "Why didn't Clary tell me about this? She hasn't even talked to me properly ever since this stupid musical and stupid Jace Wayland—"

"Maybe it's just me, Simon, but if I didn't know any better I would say that you're jealous." Isabelle cuts me off with her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised. "Are you?"

**C**

My palms are so sweaty. Is my hair frizzier than normal? I think Mom smudged my eye make-up when she did it for me. I look a mess.

"Clary, if you pace anymore I literally think you're going to make _me _puke." Jonathan interrupts, pausing the television as he looks up at me with annoyed green eyes. "I mean, seriously."

"Uh, sorry." I stammer, bringing my feet to a stop. "I'm just nervous."

"I can tell." he mutters. "Clary, this date will be fine."

"How do you know?" I bite my lip. "Jace and I have a really complicated past."

"You have been through a lot together." Jon agrees. "But I think that brings you closer together." he sighs. "Have fun tonight, okay?"

"Okay." I say quietly, and my big brother smiles widely as he stands up and wraps his arms around me in a hug.

"I love you, little sis." he gives me a light ruffle of my hair.

"Don't touch my hair, Jon." I grumble at him.

"I'll take that as an 'I love you too'."

The doorbell rings and I freeze in my brother's arms. It's most likely Jace and I'm most likely going to puke.

"Well, Clary," says Jon with a smile, "off you go on your wonderful date."

And he opens the door.

**A**

"Alexander, I want you to calm down." Magnus says softly, and I almost hang up the phone in pure anger.

"How am I supposed to _calm down_, Magnus!" my voice is loud. Thank _God _Jace, Isabelle, and my parents are out. Max is in the basement playing video games, so he should be fine. "Some stupid student took a picture of us while we were downtown and put it online! It's all over Twitter and Facebook and God only knows when it's going to get to the principal!"

"You're a legal adult, Alex." Magnus is still calm. "There's nothing to worry about."

"We've been together for like six months. Pretty sure I didn't turn eighteen six months ago." I grumble.

"Nobody has to know that." Magnus exhales. "We're not even holding hands or kissing in the photo. We'll tell people that I wanted to take a student out for his eighteenth because he's a close theatre kid. It's not illegal."

"No, but it's creepy as hell."

"We'll tell them I do it for all my students."

"Oh, really? Then explain to them why there are no pictures of you and Isabelle, Magnus." I snap.

"No need to be rude, Alexander." Magnus's tone twinges with annoyance.

"This is your entire fault, Magnus." I say, ignoring him. "If you hadn't suggested that we go out for my eighteenth birthday—"

"Excuse me?" Magnus growls. "You're the one who agreed to it!"

"Don't make this about me!" I snap.

"Excuse me? This is as much about you as it is me, Alexander!" Magnus's voice is now as raised as mine. "If you don't want to be with me, then just say so!"

This takes me back. "What? I never said that."

Silence on the other line. But he hasn't hung up.

"Is that..." I swallow. "Is that what you want?"

**S**

"What? No! Of course not." I mean, yeah, I was in love with Clary when I was little, but not anymore. If anything, she was like my little sister. I was jealous of her ignoring me because we'd been through everything together and she was throwing me aside like a freaking piece of meat. Best friends weren't supposed to do that to each other. Were they?

"I can't believe you, Simon." Clearly, Isabelle doesn't believe me. Her eyes are shining and she rolls her eyes at me, starting to walk past me.

"Where are you going, Izzy?" I grab her hand. "Wait—I'm not jealous of Jace, okay? Just listen—"

"So you are jealous?" she interrupts.

I blanch. "Well, er, _yeah_, but only because—"

"So you lied to me?" Isabelle's voice cracks.

Oh, great. Score for Simon at being the worst boyfriend in the entire world. "Izzy—"

"Don't, Simon." Isabelle steps back, shaking her head. "Don't talk to me."

"Isabelle." I say, desperation lacing my tone. I can't let her go.

"No." her voice shakes. "We're over, Simon."

And then she's gone.

**C**

"Hey."

Jace is standing on my front porch, his hands in his pockets with that lazy grin on his face. It widens when he sees me. "You look beautiful."

I raise my eyebrows. "I'm wearing regular clothes. And make-up."

"The make-up is not necessary, but you still look gorgeous." he smiles even wider.

Jonathan clears his throat loudly from behind us. "Afternoon, Wayland."

"Hi, Jonathan." Jace looks a little wary. And pale. I stifle a laugh.

"Don't keep her out too late, kid." Jonathan warns him. "Midnight is her curfew."

Jace nods, pulling his hand out of pocket and taking my hand in his. "Got it. Are you ready, Clary?"

I swallow and glance at my brother, who gives me a smile. "Yeah." I say, turning back toward Jace. "I'm ready."

"Great." he beams at me as I step outside. "Let's go."

We head out toward his car as Jonathan shuts the door.

* * *

**Hey, guess what? That only STARTS the drama. There's even **_**more **_**tomorrow...involving Isabelle, Clary, and Jace. Oh, and definitely more Malec drama. Just wait for it. **

**Also, I'm laughing evilly.**


	13. 13mic

**Author's Note: Hahahaha, I love all of you. Your reactions were completely priceless and I literally laughed out loud at every single one of them. **

**Also, there's more drama here. Sorry, loves, but it's only necessary. This one has Isabelle's point of view instead of Simon's, and Magnus's point of view instead of Alec's. Clary, however, is here to stay. We'll probably see Jace later. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own aaaaanything except for my plots that probably make everyone want to kill me. Hehehe.**

* * *

**Chapter 13—Magnus, Isabelle, Clary**

**M**

"Well?" Alec's voice is pained on the other line. Chairman Meow is staring at me pitifully from his cushion. "Is that what you want, Magnus? Do you still want to be with me or not?"

"I don't know." I say finally. I rub my temples with my free hand and exhale. "God, Alexander, I have no idea."

"It's just a question." Alec says weakly. "Answer it. Do you want to break up?"

**I**

Simon. Simon. _Simon._

That's all I can think about. His face when I told him about Clary and Jace. Was he really jealous? I don't know. All I could think about was how he probably still loved Clary and wasn't even into me at all. What if he was just using me to get over Clary?

I can't take this. Shaking my head, I get into my car and put the keys in the ignition. I back out of the bar parking lot and drive down the road, heading toward a restaurant I knew all-too-well of.

**C**

"Where are we going, by the way? You actually never told me." I remark as Jace opens the car door for me.

"We're going to dinner and then bowling." Jace grins at me. "There's this small place I like going to—Taki's. Have you heard of it?"

"I think so." I muse. "Is it by Java Jones?"

"Down the street, yeah."

"That's why it sounds familiar."

Jace nods as he pulls out of my driveway. "It's where Izzy, Alec and I like to go a lot. They've got a bunch of different kinds of food. And it's small and not really that well-known, so it won't be crowded."

"Cool." I say, smiling lightly. "I'm not really in to big crowds."

Jace's smirk is evident. "I know," he says, looking over at me briefly as he turns. "I bet it's because you're too short to get through them."

"Shut up, Jace."

**M**

"No, Alec, I don't." I say finally. "I don't want us to break up. I...Goddamnit, I love you, Alexander. I can't just throw us away because of one stupid picture."

"Your job should be more important to you than your relationship with a student—" Alec grumbles.

I cut him off. "Did you even listen to what I just said? I. Love. You."

He's silent on the other line, and I swallow. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

"I love you too, Magnus." Alec says softly.

Relief floods through me. "Great." I stammer, my mouth dry. This earns a chuckle out of my boyfriend. "Really great."

"So what are we going to do?" all giggles are gone—it's back to a serious tone. I sigh heavily as Chairman Meow curls up to my side. "Magnus, I don't want you to go to jail."

"We'll figure something out, Alexander." I switch my phone to my left hand and pet my cat with my right, leaning my head back on the couch. A sigh escapes my lips. "We'll figure something out."

**I**

The bright neon sign of Taki's flashes up at me as I park the car. If Jace hadn't told me where he was taking Clary, I don't know what I would have done.

I shouldn't be doing this. I know I shouldn't be. But I'm too blinded with rage to even think right now. I storm inside and immediately spot my brother and my best friend, sitting in a booth near the back. Clary's laughing and Jace is too. I don't know who said something funny, but I don't care.

"This is all your fault, Clary!" I say loudly, storming up to their table.

Clary freezes, her smile fading. "What? Izzy—what are you talking about?"

"Simon! Me and Simon! If I hadn't told you _anything, _we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Jace's eyebrows are furrowed. "Isabelle, calm down. This isn't Clary's fault."

"Of course you would defend your crush over your sister." I say bitterly. "God knows she's more important."

"_Isabelle—"_

"No!" I say, interrupting him. My vision is red with anger. "No, Jace. Would you defend her if you found out she knew about your _real _family when you didn't?"

**C**

My heart sinks into my stomach as Jace looks at me, his eyes wide.

"Everyone knows my father is Michael Wayland, Isabelle," says Jace slowly, his eyes moving from my face to his sister's and back to mine. "Not the Lightwoods."

"No." Isabelle laughs. And as I watch her, I can tell—her words are slightly slurred, her eyes tinged red. She's _drunk_. "Michael Wayland, Jace, isn't related to you. You grew up with a man who wasn't even your father. Your whole _life _is a lie. And Clary knows about it."

"Clary?" Jace looks at me. My heart's pounding. "What is she talking about?"

"The Herondales are your family, Jace." Isabelle giggles lightly. "Michael Wayland was your first adopted father. Dad didn't tell you because he didn't think it mattered, but I knew it did. You had a grandmother, you know. Imogen Herondale. You could have lived with her."

This part I wasn't aware of. Jace's eyes are only widening and moving faster between Isabelle and I. My heart speeds up.

"You knew?" Jace looks at me, his eyes unreadable. "You knew that I wasn't Michael Wayland's son?"

"I—yeah." I can't lie. "Isabelle told me. When the show started. When...when she told me you liked me."

"Really?" Jace stands up, his eyes suddenly blazing with anger. "What else do you know about me, Clary? Did you go out on this date with me because you felt _sorry?"_

"Jace, no!" I'm on my feet, too. Isabelle is swaying slightly, her expression sobering. "I went on this date with you because I really like you, okay?"

"You said you were conflicted." he hisses.

"I was." I argue back. "We wouldn't be in this mess if _you _hadn't eavesdropped on me and Isabelle!"

"So now it's my fault?"

"Isn't it always, Jace?" my voice is angry.

His eyes narrow as he looks at me, his chest heaving like he's just run for a long time. Everybody in the restaurant is staring at us three, but I don't care. My eyes are locked on Jace and they're blazing with anger, and all I can think about is how badly this date went.

"This was a mistake." Finally, Jace speaks. The words are sharp and cold, and he's back with his guarded expression. "I don't think I'll be asking for a rain check."

Ouch. "Please." I snort at him in anger, though my heart is breaking. "Like I would even want you to."

I grab Izzy's arm and pull her out of there to her car, fighting back tears the whole way.

**I**

What have I just done? "Clary," I say softly, but she ignores me. I try to stop her from dragging me any further as I repeat her name.

"Don't, Isabelle," snaps Clary, her voice wavering. "Just get in the goddamn car."

"Where are you driving me?" I ask desperately. She grabs my keys from my pocket as I open the passenger door.

"We're going back to my house." she mutters, slamming the driver's seat door. The car starts with a roar of the engine. "Call your brother."

"Clary—"

"Call him."

"I'm sorry, Clary."

"Just do it, Isabelle."

Reluctantly, I pull out my phone and dial Alec's number, my hand shaking.

**M**

"Oh—crap." Alec breaks me off mid-sentence. "Magnus, I'm sorry, but Izzy's calling. I better answer. She's supposed to be on a date with Simon."

"Of course." I say, biting my lip. "Make sure she's alright."

"Just give me a minute, okay? I'll be right back." Alec promises, and the line pauses. I wait, watching Chairman Meow doze off next to me.

One minute turned into two, and then into five. I had been waiting for seven minutes before Alec comes back on.

"Magnus." Alec sounds out of breath and slightly angry. "I need your help, please."

"Anything." I frown. "Is everything okay with Isabelle?"

"No. Actually, nothing's okay with anybody right now," he exhales. "Can you come to Jonathan and Clary's house and meet me inside? Please? I'll explain everything there. Oh, and bring that disgusting drink thing you created to sober up fast."

I raise my eyebrows but don't question it. "Got it, Alec. I'll see you in a few."

"Thank you." Alec breathes in relief. "I love you."

"I love you too." I say, and then we both hang up at the same time.

* * *

**I bet you all really hate me right now...and I'm sorry. Actually, not really. LOL.**

**Also, I'm just warning you...the next couple chapters will be the end. I'm guessing this will be about sixteen-seventeen chapters. Just preparing you. But after this one, I've got another Clace story up my sleeve...**


	14. 14c

**Author's Note: I'll be posting a little note at the bottom about something serious. Read if you'd like. **

**Here's the next chapter. It's not as drama-filled, but I think you might be happy. Okay? Okay. We're back to just Clary's POV for now, by the way.**

**Also, sorry for not updating yesterday and updating late tonight. When you're out with your friends, time flies...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Mortal Instruments.**

* * *

**Chapter 14—Clary **

The clock reads three a.m.

Isabelle is passed out on my couch. I pace in front of her, my hands shaking as I wait for Alec and Magnus to come back upstairs from the basement where they were calling Alec's parents to reassure them Alec and Isabelle were both staying over at my house tonight. Jonathan is in the kitchen, putting ice into a plastic bag for Isabelle when she wakes up.

"Clary, I'm sorry about Jace." Jonathan remarks. His voice is soft as he glances at me warily.

"Maybe it just wasn't meant to be." I reply, tucking my hands into my pockets to keep them from shaking any worse. "It's fine. How's the ice coming along?"

"It's done." Jonathan stands from his chair and places the zipped up bag into the freezer. "We'll just wait until she wakes up."

"Thank you for letting me use your shower, Clary." Simon makes his way down the stairs. Rubbing his dark hair dry with a towel, he sits down in the kitchen at the table and gratefully accepts the Neosporin that my brother hands him. "I shouldn't have punched that freaking wall anyway."

"It's better your wall than mine, Simon." I remark, sitting across the table from him. "It was a pretty reckless thing to do, though."

"I was mad." he says helplessly. "Mad at you, mad at Isabelle, mad at myself..."

I take the Neosporin from him and place it on his knuckles, then wrapping the gauze around his right hand. "It's going to be a bitch to try and write for the next few weeks."

"Yeah." Simon chuckles weakly. His laughs fade as he looks up at me. "Clary...I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I say softly, biting my lip. "It's my fault for not hanging out with you recently. You're my best friend."

"Izzy and I are in the clear from Mom and Dad." Alec reports, climbing up the stairs. My theatre teacher is in tow behind him. "Thank God they aren't going out today. They don't need us to babysit Max."

Max is their little brother who is nine years old. I've met him a bunch of times before, and he's pretty cool. He's into comic books. I've bought him at least half of his collection.

"Good." I say. Alec nods and sits on the loveseat next to the couch where his sister is asleep. "Thank you again, Magnus, for bringing that sober drink."

"No problem." Magnus grins at me. "It's my specialty."

Simon fiddles with the gauze around his hand. "Do you think Izzy will kill me when she wakes up?"

Surprisingly, it's Alec who replies. "No." he says confidently. "If you explain to her that she didn't understand what you said, then she'll forgive you. I'm sure of it."

Simon flashes him a weak smile. "Thanks, Alec."

"How long have we been up waiting for Iz?" Jonathan yawns wearily, rubbing his face.

"About eight hours." Magnus replies tiredly. "How long does it take to sleep off a hangover?"

"For an eighteen-year-old girl having liquor for the first time?" Alec raises an eyebrow. "Probably a long time."

"Fair point." he sighs. "Thank God tomorrow's Sunday."

"Yeah." I agree, biting my lip. "Let's just hope Isabelle wakes up soon before Simon's mom realises he's gone."

As if on cue, the passed-out dark-haired beauty stirs lightly on the couch. Simon immediately jumps out of his seat and crouches down next to the couch, biting his lip worriedly.

Isabelle's words are slurred as she first talks, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Wasgonon?"

"Get the ice and the sober drink," says Alec to Magnus softly. "Please."

Magnus nods and gets up, making his way into the kitchen as Isabelle sits up lightly, yawning and pressing the heel of her hand to her head. Simon's eyes shine with worry, but he doesn't move any closer to her.

"You were drunk, Izzy," I say softly, biting my lip. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember...leaving Simon's house." Isabelle mumbles, and Simon looks away, pained. Her dark eyes focus on my best friend.

"I wasn't jealous." Simon insists to her softly. "It was a misunderstanding. I promise."

"I think I realise that now." Isabelle admits, wincing as she lightly laughs. Her eyes turn toward me and they widen.

So, so badly do I want to scream and cry at Isabelle, hating her deeply, but I can't. She looks heartbroken and pained and she's my other best friend...so I just sigh heavily and look away.

"Clary," says Isabelle gently.

I glance at her.

"I'm sorry." she whispers.

"So you remember?"

Isabelle nods.

I sigh lightly. "It's...it's okay. Maybe it wasn't meant to be."

She puts her head into her hands and Simon gently sits next to her on the couch, rubbing her back lightly. Magnus returns from the kitchen with his remedy in a glass and the bag of ice smoking from the cold.

"Thank you, Mr. Bane." Simon nods at our theatre teacher, handing Isabelle the glass and helping her drink some of it as she presses the bag of ice to her temple. Magnus half-smiles and takes Alec's hand.

"Well, this has been one hell of a party." Jonathan says sarcastically. I throw my pillow at him. He rubs his arm and shakes his head at me, laughing lightly.

"Clary, I really am so sorry." Isabelle tells me again, biting her lip. "God, now I really feel like the villain."

Villain. Ursula. The Little Mermaid. _The musical. _"Oh, no," I groan loudly. "The musical."

"What about it?" Jonathan looks worried.

"I can't confront Jace after what happened at Taki's." I say worriedly.

Alec blinks. "Wait—he took you to _Taki's?"_

Magnus glances uncomfortably at Alec again, letting go of his hand.

"Uh, yeah," I say slowly.

"Clary, we'll figure something out." Jonathan promises me. "Don't worry. If Jace hasn't already dropped out, then we'll work something out."

"This is a huge mess." I rub my temples.

"I have a really bad hangover." Isabelle complains.

"That's why you drink the nasty stuff your teacher gave you." Magnus tells her slowly. She rolls her eyes at him.

"That sounds so wrong." Jonathan shakes his head as he heads back into the kitchen and grabs an apple that he quickly devours. Jeez, sometimes boys can be such _pigs._

"Well, seeing as Isabelle is now awake and well, maybe we should all hit the sack." I propose, yawning lightly against the back of my hand.

"You all are welcome to stay the night." Jonathan adds. "If Magnus isn't too weirded out about spending the night in the same house as three of his students."

"It doesn't weird me out." Magnus promises. "Especially as one of those students is my boyfriend."

Alec blushes deeply.

"And that's why Alec is staying with me in my room." I put my hands on my hips. "And Magnus can stay with Jonathan in his room. No funny business tonight, you two."

"So you split up the gays but not Simon and Isabelle?" Magnus complains. "Not fair."

"I'm too drunk and pained to do anything, so you can calm yourself." Isabelle says between sips of the drink from Magnus. "Let's just please go to bed. All I want to do is sleep."

"No objections there." Simon yawns loudly, stretching out on the second couch opposite Isabelle's. I grabs the blanket and places it over himself. "Goodnight."

Isabelle is already snoring away. I exchange an amused glance with my brother and lead Alec upstairs to my room, Jonathan taking Magnus to his.

Alec and I are laying in the dark when he speaks.

"Clary?"

"Hmm?" I ask softly. I'm almost asleep as I roll onto my side, catching Alec's silhouette in my slanted eyesight.

"I'm sorry about Jace." his voice is soft and thick; he is falling asleep.

"Yeah." I sigh lightly. "I'm sorry for myself too."

"Jace is a heartbreaker." Alec mumbles.

Realization hits me; Alec was once in love with Jace. I don't know how long ago it was, but I do know that it had once happened.

"Alec?" I whisper.

"Hmm?" he yawns back.

"I'm sorry about Jace."

His very quiet laugh is very bitter. "Yeah, well, it would never have worked out anyway."

And that's how he and I both fall asleep—most likely thinking about Jace while not wanting to, both our hearts broken by the same blond-haired boy.

* * *

**That's chapter fourteen! It was a little slower, but next chapter will definitely be better.**

**Also, this past week at school has made me realise something. Over our spring break, a boy committed suicide, and then on Wednesday, another boy at our school also committed suicide. I just want you all to know that if you ever feel like you aren't worth it any more, I'm here and I'm open to talk with you all about anything. You all mean a lot to me. **

**Much love. X **


	15. 15j

**Author's Note: So sorry for being behind...it's been a busy weekend, and then a busy Monday. But, here I am, four days later, updating. And WE HIT 200 REVIEWS! You have no idea how excited that makes me! Thank you so much, you guys! Really! Here's a lovely little Jace chapter for y'all. There's another announcement at the bottom, but it's not as serious as yesterday.**

**This is the second to last chapter, not including the epilogue. And this chapter is really short.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Mortal Instruments, or The Little Mermaid. Unfortunately.**

* * *

**Chapter 15—Jace **

As soon as I look at the photograph, I know right away that this man is my biological father.

We have the same fair blond hair, and his golden eyes shine as bright as mine do on a good day. I can see myself in Stephen Herondale's face with every glace, and it bothers me.

Stephen Herondale and the Herondale family were well-known. At least, that's what all of the Herondale library books are telling me. They invented some kind of machine and got famous. Whatever. Nobody remembers much about them anyway. But I wish they had, because more books mean more information on my birth family.

My birth mother, Celine, died during childbirth. My father died shortly after. Michael Wayland, the man who I thought was my father, took me in almost immediately. And that's where I ended up, until he died. And then I was dumped with the Lightwoods.

Okay, so maybe 'dumped' isn't the right word. But right now, the only Lightwood I can stand being around is Max. And even that hurts, because he loves talking about Clary and how many comic books of his are from her.

Clary. Clary Morgenstern, the girl I've been crushing on for as long as I can remember. She's also the girl I went on a date with. And the girl who knew my family past.

When Isabelle showed up at Taki's, drunk and red-eyed, I knew immediately that anything she was going to say would not be good, but there wasn't really anything I could have done to stop it. But now, looking back on it, I really wish I had.

To be honest, I don't care. I don't care that Clary knows about my family. I shouldn't have cared. Nobody should have cared. It's not a big deal to me anymore. Of course it was, at first, but then...why should it be? I never knew the Herondales. Ever. By the time I looked into the family tree, everyone was already dead. I was the last living Herondale, and it meant nothing to me. My last name was still Wayland, and if it had to change, it would be Lightwood.

I pocket the photograph and leave the school library with my backpack slung over my shoulder. As I reach my locker, Alec is leaning against it, and he moves back so I can put in my combination.

"Where'd you and Isabelle stay Saturday night?" I ask him, not looking up. Although I ask, I already know the answer.

"Clary's." he sounds very casual. "Isabelle was piss-drunk, so we didn't want Mom and Dad knowing."

"I knew she was drunk." I say. "She visited me and Clary at Taki's."

"Don't remind me." Alec grumbles, staring down at the books in his hands. I frown at him. "Clary's a mess because of what you said to her, by the way. I hope you know that."

I don't reply.

"Are you dropping out of the musical?" he asks me, his bad mood gone. It's only curiosity in his eyes now.

"No." I reply. "Believe it or not, the musical actually means a lot to me, and I don't want to miss it."

"Alright." Alec says. "I figured you'd say that, but Clary just wanted to make sure."

"Why?" I face him, shutting my locker. "Is she dropping out?"

He shakes his head, and I feel relieved. "No." Alec says. He shoulders his backpack. "Believe it or not, not even the guy she likes the most can make her back out of something."

* * *

My lines are all memorized. Our costumes are all set. The musical numbers are all ready. This show is set and prepared to go this weekend.

There's just one problem, and that's Clary.

She won't even look at me. I mean, she will while we're acting, but the minute Jonathan or Magnus yells cut, she's already off stage. Not to mention how distracting it is when Jonathan and Magnus are both glaring at you like they're cutting your head off with their eyes.

It's the whole lot of them—Alec, Magnus, Jonathan, Isabelle, Simon, and Clary. All six of them all huddle together and talk like they're sharing some kind of huge secret. So recently, my best friend has been myself.

But then again, hasn't it always been?

Rehearsal ends early that night, and I change quickly, itching to get out of the dressing room and out on the road. All I need to do is drive. Just for a few hours.

"Jace," calls Jon. I groan on the inside, but meet Clary's older brother before leaving the auditorium. His eyes are serious.

"Yes?" I ask him.

"If you want to drop out, all you have to do is ask. It's okay." he says slowly.

I reply to him by shaking my head and moving past him. As much as that whole group of six may want me to, I can't drop out. That would mean giving up Clary. And I can't do that.

When I get outside, Clary is there. She's got a cigarette in her hands, and it's ablaze, but judging by her expression I can tell she hasn't smoked it yet.

"You're not like that," I say. Her head snaps up and she locks eyes with me in surprise. With my head, I nod to the cigarette. "Plus, that will totally destroy your lungs. And your voice."

"Why do you care?" her tone is bitter.

I give her a half smile. She's pretty when she's angry. "I never stopped."

Her mouth forms into an 'o' in surprise.

I pull my keys out of my pocket. "See you tomorrow, Clary," I say, and turn away from her. When I reach my car, she's gone.

* * *

**That's the end of chapter 15. I know it's short, but next chapter will be longer. It might take me a few days to get it finished, though, so bear with me. **

**ALSO: That other Clace story I was planning is currently on hiatus. The next story I publish will be of the **_**Divergent **_**trilogy, so if you like those books, go ahead and alert me as an author to be notified when that story comes out! It won't be very far away; probably by the end of May, it'll be up. I want to make sure I have the whole plot planned out before I start typing it.**

**So, please review! Chapter 16 will be the conclusion to this story, and then there will be an epilogue after that. I can't wait. It's going to be epic.**


	16. 16c

**Author's Note: Hey y'all! Who's ready for the last chapter of **_**On Stage Romance? **_**It's gonna be good, I can tell. (A.K.A., I write these author's notes before I write the actual chapter.)**

**I'm also very glad that a few of you are excited for my Divergent story! It'll be up by the end of May, but I'll put your name on a list and PM you when it's out. Or you can just alert me as an author. I write good stories, promise, lol.**

**It's back to Clary's POV, because we all love her so, **_**so **_**much, and it's also...OPENING NIGHT OF THE MUSICAL! Will Clary and Jace reconcile before or **_**after **_**the show? To be honest, nobody knows, because I haven't even written it! Lol. **

**So...let's get on with it. :-)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMI or TLM. Just my plots that everyone seems to love, lol.**

* * *

**Chapter 16—Clary**

"Five minutes until showtime!" calls Magnus, poking his head into girl's lead. Normally, since he's a teacher, we would be freaked out that he's just casually stepping into the girl's lead dressing room even if we might not be in our costumes yet, but we aren't. One, because Magnus is dating Alec, and two, because Magnus is gay. If that wasn't self-explanatory by reason one.

I stare at my curled hair and then at Isabelle, who is struggling with the octopus costume. I smother my laugh and help her wriggle into it.

"I hate this costume." she groans.

"Just wait until the second act," I tell her. "Then you'll be Vanessa."

"Yeah." Isabelle says sarcastically. "And then back to Ursula. God, why couldn't she have died of obesity before Ariel fell in love with Eric or something?"

"Because it's Disney, Iz," I reply, fixing my top. I exhale. "Can you believe opening night is finally here?"

"No." she admits. And then she gives me a hug. "Break a leg out there, Clary. Or should I say...break a fin."

"Ha-ha." I say sarcastically, eyeing her eight tentacles. "Break a tentacle. God knows you could go without one."

Isabelle sticks her tongue out at me, and I laugh as I make my way out of the dressing room.

And as I do so, I run straight into Jace. I try to ignore the blush that is creeping up on my cheeks and look up at him.

"Uh, hi." he says quietly.

"Hi." I say. There's silence after that, but then I clear my throat. "Break a leg up there."

"Thanks." Jace bites his lip. "You too."

"One minute!" Magnus's voice rings through the hallway.

He exhales. "Clary, I—"

"Jace!" there's my older brother, moving in between us. All I can see is Jon's back and Jace's blond hair between Jon's arm and torso. "What the hell, dude? It's less than a minute until those curtains open and you're supposed to be on stage!"

Jace's eyes widen. "Shit." he cranes his neck, looks at me. "Good luck, Clary. You'll do great. I promise."

"Thanks." I call after him. "You too."

Jon turns to me and raises an eyebrow. "You two made up?"

"What?" I ask him, dazed. Then I shake my head. "Uh—no. We didn't."

"Oh. Well, I'll see you during intermission. Good luck, little sis." Jon presses a firm kiss to my forehead and disappears. I wait backstage, but on the left wing side, so I can watch as the musical begins. My stomach churns.

Before I know it, Jace and the sailors are off the stage.

"Yes, yes," says Alec (who also plays Sebastian as well as Jace's understudy), and my stomach clenches even more. It's only a matter of one or two minutes before I'm on stage. Simon is on my left, and he gives me a reassuring smile. I smile back, but not as wide.

The lights dim. I'm about to move, but someone keeps me in place. It's Jace. His eyes are gleaming and he lightly squeezes my shoulder.

"Good luck." he mouths and then I run on stage.

It's showtime.

* * *

We're at the boat scene. I'm leaning against the fake ship, watching as Jace and Sebastian Verlac (who plays Grimsby _and _Triton) Speak on stage.

"Oh, Eric, it isn't me alone." Sebastian says miserably, wiping his forehead on his handkerchief. "The entire kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right girl."

Jace looks out toward the fake sea. Right over my head. "Well, she's out there somewhere. I just—I just haven't found her yet."

"Well," says Sebastian, "perhaps you haven't been looking hard enough."

Jace's tawny eyes drop to meet mine. "Believe me, Grim." he says, leaving his eyes on mine. My mouth's gone dry. "When I find her, I'll know—without a doubt. It'll just—bam—hit me. Like lightning."

Our moment is over when the sound technicians blare the sound of thunder and the light technicians flash their lightning.

I can't really think straight as we scramble around on stage. Before I know it, I'm on the fake beach with Jace, who is unconscious in my arms.

"Where would we walk? Where would we run? If we could stay all day in the sun?" I sing softly, bringing my hand up to push a strand of Jace's fine blond hair out of his eyes. "Just you and me, and I could be part of your world."

His eyes open partially. And he smiles. So do I.

And then I 'swim away' to the other side of the stage. Once again, Sebastian and Jace speak before walking off stage.

"I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know something's starting right now," I sing, pushing myself up on the rocks. Jace is now offstage and staring at me. "Watch and you'll see, someday I'll be part of your world."

The lights go off—a scene change. I hurry off stage right with Alec and Simon and run across backstage to stage left.

When we reach the scene where Ariel is with her sisters in their dressing room, I come out and sing softly to myself.

"What is with her lately?" Helen Blackthorn, who plays one of Ariel's sisters, grumble.

"Morning, Daddy." I push the flower into Sebastian's grey wig and kiss his cheek. His skin tastes like sandpaper. It's gross, but I pretend to swim off on the opposite of the stage. I can still hear them speaking.

"Oh," says Helen sadly, "she's got it bad."

"What?" demands Sebastian. "What has she got?"

"Isn't it obvious, Daddy?" we put Andrina and Atina's roles together, so Helen plays both. I can imagine her patting Sebastian's shoulder pitifully, because he doesn't understand. "Ariel's in love."

I catch Jace's eye across the stage. He's backstage stage left, and I am backstage stage right. He smiles lightly and gives me a half-hearted thumbs-up. My heart flutters.

"Ariel?" says Sebastian, confused. He's a phenomenal actor. "In love?"

"Yeah." I whisper to myself, so quiet nobody can hear me. "So is Clary."

* * *

I'm staring at Jace, desperation lacing my expression, as Alec sings.

"There you see her," sings Alec, dancing around the rowboat as Sebastian the crab, "sitting there across the way. She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her. And you don't know why, but you're dying to try—you wanna kiss the girl."

"Did you hear something?" Jace asks me. I shake my head.

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my-oh-my, look like the boy too shy, ain't gonna kiss the girl. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, ain't that sad?" yeah, it's sad. "Ain't it a shame? Too bad, he gonna miss the girl."

"You know," says Jace, "I feel really bad about not knowing your name." he laughs once, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Maybe I could guess. Is it—err—Mildred?"

I make a face and he laughs. "Okay, no. How about—Diana?" I shake my head. "Rachel?" I shake it again.

Alec whispers, "Ariel. Her name is Ariel."

Jace blinks. "Ariel?" I nod, beaming. "Ariel? Well, that's kinda pretty. Okay...Ariel..."

Our faces lean closer and closer together throughout the song. Alec is belting the last note and Jace's lips are just two centimetres from mine—

And then our boat tips over. His arms go around me. "Whoa, hang on—I've gotcha." Jace says. My cheeks are burning with a blush. I hope it just looks like stage make-up.

The scene fades and we run off. I feel giddy and bubbly on the inside, butterflies flying around like crazy inside my stomach.

We run off to our positions. Jace and I share small glances as we pass each other, but that's it.

Intermission flies by. I briefly remember Jonathan coming up to me—"Clary, your acting is absolutely outstanding. Everyone loves you. You're doing a great job!"—and then we were back to acting and singing and short glances between Jace and I.

The musical is almost over. I'm sitting on the same rock I sang to Jace on, whilst Sebastian and Alec talk to each other. My heart starts to pound—the kiss is getting closer.

"She really does love him, doesn't she, Sebastian?" Sebastian asks Alec.

"Well," says Alec decidedly, "it's like I always say, Your Majesty. Children got to be free to lead their own lives."

Alec's accent is spot-on, may I just say. I've been thinking about that the whole show, too.

"You...always say that?" Sebastian looks at Alec, whose smile is sheepish. "Then I guess there's just one problem left."

"And what's that, Your Majesty?" asks Alec. I fight the smile off my face with everything I have.

"How much I'm going to miss her." Sebastian sighs, and then a golden light surrounds me. I crouch behind the rock and pull off my costume, the purple shiny dress underneath it. I stand up and make my way out of the water, facing Jace, who is now standing.

This is it. My heart pounds wildly. His eyes are alight, their tawny colour glinting even more in the gold and silver lights. He smiles at me and I smile back.

Jace's hands fit perfectly on my waist. My arms go around his neck and ever-so-slightly do I tug lightly on the back of his neck, bringing his head down closer to mine.

I don't remember whose lips are on whose first. I just remember kissing Jace with everything I had, because I wanted to and because it had to look amazing. But God, did it feel amazing.

The lights fade briefly and we run off stage. I come back in a wedding dress, and Jace comes back in the suit designed like the one in the movie. The lights come back on and we are kissing again, like we never stopped. I wish we'd never stopped.

I remember reading the script. It had said that everyone was happy, to describe how they should look. I feel like the happiest girl on earth.

"I love you, Daddy," I tell Sebastian. Jace's arm is around my waist. Sebastian smiles lightly and backs up. Jace presses his lips to mine again. The chorus is singing.

"Now we can walk, now we can run, now we can stay all day in the sun...just you and me...and I can be...part of your world."

The lights fade to black and the stage is dark. I hear the curtains, but my eyes are still shut and my lips are pressed tight against Jace's. He's kissing me back with as much passion.

"Um, guys?" Alec taps my shoulder tentatively. "The show's over now. The curtains are closed. You can stop kissing."

This makes me giggle, so I pull back. Jace pouts at me, but he doesn't remove his arm from my waist, nor do I remove my arms from his neck.

I glance at Jonathan, who is right next to us. He grins. "You two were brilliant. Really."

"Thanks, Jon." I say quietly. His grin widens and he walks away.

I'm left facing Jace. "So—" I say, but then someone yells, "Curtain call!" and we're split.

Not for long, though. First the chorus and Helen, then Isabelle and her puppet-cronies (also known as the eels whose names I don't remember—isn't like Flotsam and Jetsam or something?), then Sebastian and Alec, and then Simon. Then Jace and I run out together, grab hands, and bow.

And as we finish our curtain call, and the rest of the cast crowds around us, he pulls me into him and kisses me again, and we stay like that until the lights once again go black.

* * *

**That's the last chapter of On Stage Romance! It's been a pleasure writing for you all. I really loved writing this story.**

**There will be an epilogue! Next chapter! I think you'll all be very satisfied with it, just like I feel I will be. It'll be a perfect ending to this story. :D**

**Real quick, though: Whose POV do you want the epilogue in? Let me know in your review!**


	17. epilogue

**Author's Note: Well, here it is. The last chapter of **_**On Stage Romance. **_**I hate to see it go, but a lot of people agreed that last chapter was a good ending. But I couldn't just leave you all hanging without an epilogue.**

**So for Chapter 16, I got a total of nineteen reviews. And out of those nineteen reviews, nine of you voted for whose POV. And all nine said Jace's. So, uh, I guess we're going with Magnus' POV for the epilogue!**

**(That was my attempt at a lame joke. Please ignore that.)**

* * *

**Epilogue—Jace**

"Hurry up, slowpoke!" my girlfriend hollers at me from downstairs, where Alec, Simon, and Isabelle are waiting with her. I roll my eyes, and before I can holler back, she adds: "If you don't get your ass down here in the next two minutes, we're graduating without you!"

The funny part is that I know she's dead serious.

So I head downstairs and immediately fit my hand in hers, kissing her temple and toying with one of her bright red curls as we head outside. The end of our senior year has finally arrived with much anticipation, and my stomach is churning just thinking about it.

Isabelle is going to college in Florida with Alec. They're going to be staying in a dorm together at the University of Florida, and Simon is going to University of Michigan. They're all going separate ways. But Isabelle and Simon aren't going to break up. They'll be on the same time zone, so they'll be all right. I've got faith in them, and that's saying something. But since being with Clary, I've become a hopeless romantic.

But while they're going off to college and getting degrees for their majors, I haven't got my future figured out. That's the worst part. I didn't get a scholarship, or apply to any colleges. But that's okay with me, because Clary has agreed to stay home with me until I do figure it out. And that means more to me than anything.

Our ride to the high school is short. We quickly arrive into the gymnasium and sit down in the rows of fold-up chairs, in our alphabetical orders. And to be honest, thank God that Alicante High put my name down as Jace Lightwood, because Alec, Izzy, Clary, and I all get to sit together while we wait to take our diplomas. Clary's hand is sweaty in mine, but I don't mind.

When our principal gets to the last names beginning with L, Simon goes first. I watch as his dark head travels up to the stage and the podium, where he shakes hands with our principal and is given his diploma.

Alec is after Simon, and then Isabelle follows next. They both do the exact same as Simon, except Isabelle gets a few catcalls when she poses for a picture taken by Maryse and Robert, and then Simon yells, "That's my girlfriend, so back off!" which makes Isabelle blush and the other seniors laugh.

And then it's me. Before I stand, Clary kisses my cheek and squeezes my hand before letting go of me. I smile at her lightly and make my way up to the podium, where Mr. Aldertree waits with his hand outstretched for me to shake.

As I do, he smiles at me. "Congratulations, Jace Lightwood," he says, handing me the diploma that signifies my graduation from Alicante High School. I'm too giddy to correct him on my last name. I move to the graduated section of seniors and sit beside my sister.

"Can you believe it?" she exhales, looking at me with a wide smile. Alec and Simon switched places so Isabelle could be next to her boyfriend. "We're high school graduates."

"I know." I say. But my eyes are on the stage, where Clary is getting her diploma. She's so short that the podium is taller than her. I fight back a smirk.

My girlfriend has her diploma in her left hand so she can hold my hand with her right. I lace my fingers through hers and kiss her temple, a smile on my mouth. She makes me happy. "Congrats, high school graduate," I murmur in her ear.

She blushes as I pull away and I squeeze her hand. We're in this together, thankfully. I have no worries. Not as long as Clary is by my side.

* * *

At the end of the ceremony, as tradition, we throw our caps up into the air. I turn to Clary, but her mouth is open and her eyes are shining. And she's pointing over my shoulder.

Confused, I turn. And then my jaw drops too.

Alec is wrapped in my theatre teacher's arms, and they're kissing. Full-on making out. Magnus and Alec.

Then Clary says, "Well, it's about damn time you two went public!"

Alec pulls away from Magnus and blushes. His eyes wander to mine, and I give him a grin. It's the happiest I've seen him in a long time.

Isabelle squeals as Simon picks her up and spins her around. Everyone's drunk off happiness and giggling like mad, because we've _graduated _and we're finally going to live our lives.

I open my mouth to say something to Clary, but before I can she's pulled my down by the front of my gown and she's pressed her soft lips firmly against mine. I wrap my arms around her small waist and pull her close, drunk in the intoxicating smell of her strawberry shampoo.

Wait, no, I think it's watermelon. Or apple. Oh, God, why do I even care? I kiss her again and pull away, pecking her forehead gently and putting my arm around her shoulders. "So, where to now?" I ask her.

"My brother." Clary tells me. "My brother and Magnus, actually. They want us two to meet them by the entrance to tell us something."

Confused, I follow her past the excited crowds. Her grip on my hand is tight, but not suffocating. I give her hand a squeeze and she looks over her shoulder to smile at me.

"There they are." I say, pointing toward her right. Magnus and Jonathan, the co-directors of our musical this year that we absolutely _smashed _(in a good way), are deep in discussion. Magnus's rainbow pants shimmer in the lights. He spots us first, and nudges Jonathan.

"Hey, Clary." Jon gives his sister a hug, and gives me a high-five. "Hey, Jace."

We both say our hellos.

"So Jon told me about you two staying here and waiting to go to college." Magnus starts. Clary glares at her brother and I bite my lip. We were hoping to keep in on the down low, because I didn't want to seem like a failure. "Relax, Clary. I'm not here to scold you two."

"You aren't?" I say slowly.

"No." Magnus grins at the both of us. "Actually, I think next year will be a very busy year for me. I'll still be keeping my job, of course, but I don't know if I'll have the _time _to put on a musical and a play for the Theatre Company next year."

"What?" Clary's hand drops out of mine and she waves them around as she speaks. "Magnus, are you serious? There are so many talented underclassman who were really looking forward to the meetings and the rehearsals and the play and the musical and you can't just—"

I clear my throat and she stops. "Clary," I say slowly, looking at Magnus, "I think he's telling us something."

"Well, duh." Clary snorts. "I mean, I knew you were stupid but I didn't think you were _that _stupid—"

"No." I laugh lightly. "I mean he's trying to tell us something about our future. At least, this upcoming year."

Her eyebrows furrow. My smile widens.

"Clary and Jace," says Jonathan slowly, "would you two like to direct next school year's theatre productions here at Alicante?"

* * *

**Aaand here we are, at the end of **_**On Stage Romance. **_**It's been an absolutely amazing journey this past month to be writing for you guys, and I'm so glad you loved this story as much as I did. **

**Like I said before—that other Clace story I was planning on is being put in hiatus, but it will eventually surface. I won't ignore it altogether. And my Divergent story (which is Fourtris, in case you didn't know) will be up by the end of May at the latest. Most likely earlier, but I'm just giving a bit of editing time.**

**Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews, favourites, follows...everything means so much to me, and this was an amazing close to an amazing story. **_**On Stage Romance **_**is definitely one of my favourite works to this day.**

**A couple other things: if you like the Percy Jackson series, or Maximum Ride, you can go ahead and check out my other stories. And by the end of May there will be a Divergent story up that you'll be able to check out if you please. If you want me to PM you about it when it's up, then let me know in your review. **

**Thank you so, so much for this massive opportunity to write for you all. I love you all so much. **

_**-fin-**_


	18. epilogue's epilogue

**Author's Note: Someone suggested an epilogue to the epilogue, and I believe that was a brilliant idea.**

**Disclaimer: In case you haven't noticed, I don't own The Mortal Instruments at all. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.**

* * *

**Epilogue's Epilogue—Clary **

I hear the yelling before they enter the theatre, and Jace catches my eye from across the stage with a grin.

"Can't you _ever _think of something other than yourself?" snaps Tess, storming down the aisleway toward the stage. Her hands are thrown up in exasperation and her face is red from arguing.

"Of course I can." Chris winks at her, his whole body language screaming the word cocky. "I think about us."

"There is no us!" her voice raises to a scream.

"Whoa, you two," I say, standing up from my seat. "What's going on?"

"Chris is being his usual dick self." Tess complains to me, glaring at the boy in front of her. "He won't _shut up _about being able to kiss me because we're the leads in the musical."

"I know." I say to her honestly. "I'm the one who's been directing the shows the past four years. I've heard all of it."

"It's _his _fault." Tess grumbles.

"It's always the boy's fault." I agree with her.

Jace stands up from his seat. "Hold on." he places his hands up and stares at me evenly. "What about all those times you kept secrets from me, huh, Morgenstern?"

"Secrets are different than being a dick." I reply, putting my hands on my hips.

"Depends on how bad the secret is." Jace retorts, rolling his eyes. "I happen to think it's Tess's fault for screaming at poor Chris all the time."

"You've got to be kidding me." I say, and Tess says it at the same time. We exchange a glance before Tess says, "Chris is the most annoying person I've ever met. He never shuts up, he's arrogant as hell and all he ever really thinks or talks about his himself because he's the most self-centered and immature boy I've ever met."

I catch the pained look in Chris's eyes and sigh. "Tess, go get dressed. You and Chris are late for rehearsal anyway."

Tess opens her mouth to say something, but I silence her with a look. Shoulders slumped, she trudges backstage as I turn back to Chris.

"You've got it bad." I tell Chris.

"Is it that obvious?" Chris bites his lip, watching Tess go backstage.

"No." I say honestly. Jace reaches for my hand. "I can only tell because that's what happened to me."

Chris glances between Jace and me, the question lingering silently in the air.

"We hated each other." Jace tells him, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing my temple. "Massively hated each other. Most of the time, I wanted to wring her neck."

"I still want to most of the time." I admit, and Jace scoffs.

"How'd you two work it out?" Chris rubs the back of his neck. "What happened?"

"Do you want us to tell the story?" I ask him. By now, most of the cast has crowded around us. There's a chorus of agreement through the crowd. I laugh, kiss Jace on the cheek, and hop up on stage, sitting down next to my fiancé, who absent-mindedly plays with the ring on my finger as I start the story.

"It all started on a Friday," I begin, smiling lightly as Jace pulls me onto his lap. A few of the students make gagging noises but this only makes me laugh. "As soon as school let out, I and my soon-to-be-sister-in-law rushed out of Study Hall toward this very theatre to look at the cast list for Alicante Theatre Company's production of The Little Mermaid..."

* * *

**And that's the guaranteed last chapter of **_**On Stage Romance! **_**This epilogue takes place four years after the first epilogue, in case that wasn't clear. Haha.**

**ALSO, if you want, I posted a new Clace story! It's called New Life, and I think you'll really like it! So if you want more Clace, go check that out for me. Much love, once again, and thank you all so much for staying with me til the end.**


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